Pitch Black
by Lady Rhapsody
Summary: B/V, A ship carrying a group of clueless tourists, a deadly convict, co-pilot Bulma, and captain Yamcha crash-lands on its destination, leaving them stranded to fend for themselves. They soon find out that they are not alone. How will they survive?
1. Priorities

Summary: A/U B/V....A ship carrying a group of clueless tourists, a blood-thirsty convict, co-pilot Bulma, and captain Yamcha crash-lands on its destination, leaving them stranded to fend for themselves. But they soon find out that they are not alone. Can they survive without killing each other first? This is very unlike anything that I have ever written before, but what the hell? I'm going to give it a shot. Loosely based on the Vin Diesel (ow-ow!) movie 'Pitch Black'.  
  
  
  
  
  
P I T C H B L A C K.............................  
............................................................a fic by Rhapsody~*  
  
.................................................................................................... 1: Priorities  
  
  
  
  
The convict watched the crew and passengers scurry about like little flies as they readied the ship for take-off, a simple task that he could have easily completed hours ago, and smirked. The bulletproof, shaded glass that made up his holding chamber was meant to keep out most sounds, but whoever had been in charge of its manufacture had really fucked it up; he could hear everything that was going on in the room. It sounded as if the passengers were beginning to worry about the safety of heading up for space. He had to chuckle a little at that. The technology had been undergoing multiple tests for years now, and besides, it wasn't as if they had meaningful lives to go home to. They were all the ship for one reason--to escape the harsh reality that was life. How did he know this? It was easy. The only available entertainment to him was the pathetic drama that they could provide. He was grateful that while he could still see them, he was invisible to their eyes, merely a shadow behind smoked glass. It was easier that way.  
  
"Oh, Krillen!" the ditz of the bunch, Marron, cooed. "I know that this is going to be the best trip EVER!"  
  
Her boyfriend, Krillen, shrugged. "Sure! Whatever you say, baby."  
  
The convict rolled his eyes. The girl, Marron, was a classic ditz with her stupid comments and featherbrained habits, such as adjusted her water-bra every two seconds and giggling like a deranged cheerleader. Sure, she was kinda cute, but not what the convict would consider pretty. Apparently she didn't share his opinion, because at the moment she was examining her reflection in the glass of one of the passenger chambers and studying her breasts from all angles.   
  
Her boyfriend, Krillen, wasn't exactly a modern Einstein either. In the convict's opinion, they deserved each other. Krillen was a sniveling, perverted little chrome-dome without a single functional brain cell to speak of. How he had managed to attract a gold-digger like Marron was anyone's guess. The convict didn't really want to know. Anyway, it sounded like Krillen was struggling to make ends meet and was currently between jobs, which wasn't surprising.  
  
The automatic door to the passengers' chamber slid open with a little creak, and the self-proclaimed captain of the ship, Yamcha, stepped through with a smug smile on his pop-starish face. A slim, petite girl stepped through the door behind him. That was Bulma Brief, scientific extraordinaire. She was not only Yamcha's co-pilot, but had also decided to come along because of the scientific experiments she was conducting for her father, the wealthy owner of Capsule Corporations. She stopped and examined the creaky door, running her fingers up and down the control pad, her features twisted into an expression of concentration.   
  
"Damned doors," she muttered to herself. "Yamcha, do you remember where I set down that oil can?"  
  
The captain turned and gave her the up-down before answering. "Who cares? I have bigger, more important problems to worry about. Where are the rest of the passengers?"  
  
Bulma paused in her assessments and furrowed her brows in puzzlement. "The rest of the passengers? You mean they're not all here?"  
  
"That's what I said, isn't it?" Yamcha scowled at Krillen and Marron, who were now staring, and stormed out of the room.  
  
"Oh, shit," Bulma groaned, tightening her ponytail. She offered the two passengers a tight smile. "Excuse us."  
  
The convict watched her leave with a touch of interest. She didn't seem to like the captain. Perhaps she wasn't such a pushover after all. He hadn't been able to gather very much information about her as of yet. The girl seemed to be avoiding much contact with the passengers and Yamcha, who seemed to be more than eager to spend time with her. All that the convict knew was various facts about her family and their business, as well as her reasons for being on the ship.   
  
As for good old Captain Yamcha, however... The convict knew plenty about him already. For he had met the supposed 'All-American', space traveling, world-recognized hero once before. The asshole had another agenda, for sure-- it was the reason that he wasn't still on death row right now. Yamcha was a bounty hunter, no doubt about it. There had been a club that the convict had used to visit, before the cops were constantly on his ass, that the bastard had liked to haunt every so often, and news of a reputation like that traveled fast. Not only that, but the intricacies of the captain's personality had become immediately apparent as soon as he had secured the locks of the chains that secured the convict's hands and slammed the door behind him. The man was a manipulative son of a bitch. The convict allowed himself a brief fantasy involving, Yamcha, him, and a long, sharpened butcher's knife, and then quickly brought himself back to reality. It would not be good to get into the habit of crime until he was sure that he could get away with it. All things would eventually being to come together in good time...  
  
All of a sudden a tall, lanky man literally stumbled through the door and into the room, a goofy smile on his face. He was followed by a stern-faced young woman and a boy of about seven years of age. Both looked pretty exasperated with the tall man, who proceeded to babble as soon as he regained his balance.  
  
"Wowee, guys, this sure is a great ship!" he exclaimed, dropping his bags at his feet. "Say, where's the storage compartment around here? And where am I gonna sleep? I have so many questions!"  
  
Marron and Krillen simply stared open-mouthed at the loud stranger. Marron recovered first and extended a hand. "Hello there! I'm Marron, and this is my boyfriend Krillen. I know that we're gonna have SO much fun on Matari-sei together! I can't wait!" She then giggled hysterically and clasped her hands together in delight. "Who are your friends?"  
  
The woman winced as Marron took her hand and shook it vigorously. "I'm Chichi, Goku's wife. And that is our son, Gohan."  
  
Krillen recovered his power of speech and smiled. "Um, hi."  
  
The tall man, Goku, then caught sight of the convict's chamber and approached it boldly. The convict's muscles stiffened and he obtained an expression of malice. Goku, unable to make out anything but the convict's shadow, took a step forward and tapped on the glass. "Who's that? And why is he all locked up in there?"  
  
Marron grabbed his hand and pulled him away, watching the convict with wide, wary eyes. "Oh, no, Goku! You can never go near that chamber! He's the criminal that's coming along. Captain Yamcha says that they're just gonna ditch him on Matari-sei so that he can't kill any more people on Earth. He escaped death row once, didn't you know that?"   
  
The convict scowled at her explanation. Ditch him? On a wasteland of a planet like Matari-sei? His blood boiled at the thought.   
  
Chichi grabbed her child and covered his eyes protectively. "Kill ANY MORE people? That's ridiculous! How could they allow us to travel with a...a CRIMINAL?"  
  
Goku scratched his head and shrugged. "Its gotta be pretty safe, I mean, he's chained up and that glass looks pretty tough."  
  
Then Bulma walked into the room with her arms crossed. "Its safe. The glass is bulletproof." Her bright blue eyes studied the containment room. "You guys have nothing to worry about."  
  
The convict studied her through narrowed eyes. She was undoubtedly one of the most attractive women he had ever seen--even prettier than the few he had hand-picked and killed in the past few years when he had been on his female-victim streak. If only he had met her when he had been free on the streets...he could have had a lot of fun with a body like hers. Dead or alive.   
  
Bulma moved her eyes away from the convict's glass and steel chamber and proceeded to outline some of the basic rules of the ship the passengers. The convict sensed that she was creating the charade of being a hard-ass for her own benefit, and he could hardly blame her. Unless she proved herself to be an intelligent individual early on, nobody would take her super-modelesque self seriously. She had long, straight hair that fell to somewhere around her waist, judging from the length of her high ponytail, and striking blue cat-eyes. From the convict's angle, they appeared to be the color of the cloudless summer sky. Not that he had much to compare them to; he had spent the last few years in a maximum security prison where there wasn't much opportunity to see the sky. They brought him a fleeting sensation of freedom, and the convict decided that he would kill her last. Probably.  
  
"But enough of the technical bullshit," Bulma dismissed after she had finished explaining the basics. "Step into your chambers, strap yourself in, and relax. We'll be taking off in about ten minutes." She then turned and walked out of the room, narrow hips swaying. The convict half-smiled and allowed himself one tiny little fantasy. Hell, it wasn't as if he had anything else to do.  
  
  
  
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Bulma pressed her palm onto the scanning lock beside the door of the control room. A green light flashed, the door slid open, and she stepped through. Yamcha was already pushing buttons and flipping switches on the control panels, an expression of extreme concentration on his handsome face. Bulma ignored a brief pang of lust and moved to assist him.  
  
"You seem to be in a touchy mood this afternoon," Yamcha started, never taking his eyes off of his work. "What's wrong?"  
  
Bulma shook her head. "I'm not sure that taking this--this CONVICT along is such a good idea. His presence makes the passengers nervous."  
  
"Of course it does," Yamcha replied. "That only adds to the thrill of the trip. Once all of this is over, they will be able to reflect back on how brave they were to put up with his being here. Besides, the guy is contained in the most protective material on the market, and chained to the wall on top of that. There's nothing to worry about."  
  
Bulma wasn't so sure. She crossed her arms and turned to face her captain. "I know that it was partly your idea to take him along. Why? Why would risk the safety of all of us like that?"  
  
Yamcha slammed his hand down on the control panel and turned to look her in the eye. "You are in no position to question my decisions!" At the defiant look in Bulma's unusually colored eyes, his face softened, and he moved closer to her. "Besides, if the whack-job DOES escape, you have my word that you'll be safe." His hands moved to her waistline, and they both watched them caress her skin with feelings of apprehension.  
  
"My safety should not be your first priority," Bulma protested softly, moving her eyes up to meet Yamcha's. "Its your JOB to protect the lives of those people, not the lives of your crewmembers."  
  
"Oh, but your life IS my first priority..." Yamcha whispered huskily, pulling her body closer to his.  
  
"I can take care of myself," Bulma said in a last attempt to defend herself. "I can take care of myself..." Her words were cut off when Yamcha covered her mouth with his and engaged her in a long, deep kiss.  
  
When he finally pulled away, his lips were curled into a triumphant, domineering smile that sent a cold chill down Bulma's spine. "Now, no more arguments."  
  
Bulma, for lack of anything else to do, nodded and went back to her work, her mind reeling. The last thing that she needed in her life at the moment was a steamy affair with America's most recent hero. She was tempted to laugh a little at the prospect of them having a real relationship, but knowing Yamcha, that would not have been a good idea. Besides, they were so...different. Bulma was definitely not attracted to his 'type' --the All-American, fresh-faced, I'll-save-you-fair-damsel-- kind of guy. She snuck a peek at him out of the corner of her eyes. Well, she USUALLY wasn't. Her heart seemed to be drifting towards all of the wrong places lately.  
  
All of a sudden the engines started rumbling, and Yamcha was settling down into his drivers' seat. Bulma sighed and took her spot beside him, in the co-pilot's chair. She didn't even have the chance to speak the words 'lift-off' and they were off, speeding through the Earth's atmosphere.  
  
  
  
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It wasn't until they were safely out of the atmosphere and well on their way to Matari-sei, one of the most visited tourist planets in the galaxy, that Bulma left the control room to allow the passengers to come out of their chambers. Much to her satisfaction, the door of the containment room slid open without a single, faint creak. She hummed to herself under her breath as she unlocked each chamber and opened the doors. Since it had been at least four hours since lift-off, the passengers were napping peacefully. Bulma didn't bother to wake them, not wishing to have to deal with any unnecessary contact. From what she could tell so far, these were not the kind of people she cared to socialize with.  
  
Once she had finished her business with the chambers, she turned to leave the room. Before she had a chance to leave, the convict's shaded chamber caught her eye. She paused in mid-step and studied the exterior of the holding chamber from afar, her nimble fingers itching to examine the superior, protective glass. Looking over her shoulder at the door to make sure that Yamcha wasn't anywhere close, Bulma approached the chamber cautiously.   
  
She was in the middle of determining the exact thickness of the glass when the figure inside jerked suddenly. Bulma started and stumbled back in surprise. Heart pounding, she squinted to make out the convict inside. She was unsuccessful, and wondered if he had trouble seeing her also. By the way that he seemed to be waiting, tense and ready to attack, assured her that he had no trouble making her out perfectly. She wondered if the manufacturor had installed the glass the wrong way. She didn't have time to wonder long, because just then Yamcha bursted into the room. Bulma whirled around and wrung her fingers nervously behind her back. She hoped that the convict wasn't laughing his ass off at her awkwardness.  
  
"Where have you been?" Yamcha demanded, running a shaky hand through his black hair. "Something's wrong, and I can't figure the damned thing out. Hurry your ass up and help me!" He hurried out of the room before Bulma had a chance to respond.  
  
Letting loose a sigh of relief, Bulma turned back to the convict's chamber again. Much to her surprise, the convict had pressed his hands up against the glass, and she could just make out the whites of his eyes. She let out a little scream and fell back on her ass. Not giving herself time to look at the convict again, she got up and ran out of the room, trembling all over her body.  
  
The convict smirked and leaned back against the uncomfortable, hard wall of his chamber. The girl needed a little scare to jolt her back to reality. It wouldn't do for her to feel TOO safe. Eyeing the open passenger chambers, the convict began thinking of more ways to make the unsuspecting tourists shit themselves in terror. As previously mentioned, he had nothing else to do.  
  
  
  
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Bulma entered the control room after taking a few minutes to recompose herself. Yamcha was scanning data on the computer screens wildly and entering codes here and there, sweat running down his anxious face. Bulma instantly forgot about her encounter with the convict and hurried to his side, checking the data for herself.  
  
"What's going on?" she asked, bewildered.  
  
Yamcha stopped his manic observations. "Hell if I know! We reached the outer limits of Matari-sei's atmosphere and the thing just started going crazy!"  
  
Bulma narrowed her eyes at him suspciously. "Isn't this is just the sort of thing that they train you astronauts for?"  
  
"Yeah well, I skipped out on that part of my training," Yamcha admitted hastily and angrily. "Its not your place to question my abilities, anyway."  
  
"What ELSE did you 'skip out on'?!" Bulma demanded frantically. "Don't you even realize what could HAPPEN here? If something goes wrong, we don't have a snowball's chance in hell of escaping without injury!"  
  
Yamcha suddenly grabbed her by the throat and pressed her up against a wall, his mouth curled into an ugly frown of unchecked anger. "Shut the fuck up! I know what I'm doing! Just FIX IT, goddammit! You don't have a choice!" His grip tightened on her delicate throat.  
  
Bulma could hardly believe that just hours earlier, she had been kissing this man. The anger he was expressing seemed a bit extreme to her, but as he had said, it wasn't as if she had much of a choice. "Fine." As she was pinned up against that wall, she couldn't help but think that he had something more to hide, something more important than skipping astronaut lessons, something that he felt that he had to defend...  
  
He released her and stormed out the room, probably to secure the supplies and alert the passengers of the current trouble. Bulma shook her head at the strange happenings of the trip so far and turned to the controls. Her scientific mind analyzed the situation quickly. They were going to overshoot the landing area by hundreds of miles, and the weather on the planet was not looking too good. Bulma swallowed, struggling to come up with a plausible solution for this...problem.   
  
"Think, think, think!" she chided herself, pacing back and forth. If she couldn't steer the ship around the worst part of the storm, it would be thrown around like a child's play-thing, resulting in their eventual deaths. She suddenly got an idea and rushed to the controls, where she did some frantic damage control and settled back into her co-pilot's chair, praying for their lives.  
  
"Well? Did you fix it?" Yamcha demanded as he re-entered, a ring of keys and a wicked-looking automatic weapon under his arm.  
  
Bulma eyed his possessions and nodded. "I hope so. I've done all that I can at this point."  
  
"Good," Yamcha plopped down into the pilot's chair and was silent for a moment. "You remember what I told you earlier, don't you?" His brown eyes were fixated on her intently, burning tiny little holes straight into her soul.  
  
"Remind me," Bulma requested suspiciously.  
  
"OUR lives are my first priority."  
  
Bulma crossed her arms. "Yamcha, you can't do that. The passengers are the ones that you were assigned to protect! People back on Earth honor you for that reason--your ability to protect others in times of need. Don't tell me that you 'skipped out' on your rescue lessons, too."  
  
Yamcha's expression darkened. "Fuck them," he said solemnly.  
  
"That's all that you can say?" Bulma demanded, getting a little frantic. "Fuck them?!"  
  
"Listen, do you want to survive or not?" Yamcha exclaimed, tucking the gun into his belt and gripping the keys. "Since you seemed to have solved the problem, we might not even have to WORRY about saving anybody's life."  
  
Bulma's eyes went to the keys in his hands. "What did you use the keys for?"  
  
Yamcha looked away from her, avoiding her eyes.  
  
"What did you use the keys for, Yamcha?"  
  
"I locked the passengers in their chambers," he replied coolly.  
  
Bulma's jaw dropped in surprise. "But if we crash, they will have no chance of escape, no chance of surviving---"  
  
Yamcha cut her off abruptly. "Save it for somebody who CARES! Bitch..."  
  
"Oh my God." Bulma massaged her throbbing temples. "You are such an asshole. This is absolutely ludicrous. I can't believe that you would even THINK of doing such a murderous, crazy thing! You aren't any better than the convi---"  
  
The computer screens went blank, the electricity cut out, and suddenly the ship burst through a group of clouds that had been obscuring their view, and Bulma and Yamcha were giving a devastating visual of the rocky ground of Matari-sei looming closer and closer. It looked as if they had front-row seats to the deaths of everyone on the ship, themselves included.  
  
  
  
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(A/N): And it only gets better from here.... What do you think? This is certainly not the normal type of story that I produce. It won't be so much science-fiction (I can't stand that particular genre, myself!) as it will be action and yes, you guessed it-- romance. I guess this means that its ciao for now! Please remember to REVIEW!  
  
Contact me at: HawaiianBabay@aol.com, AIM Hawaiian Babay  
(Feel free to IM me, I always love a good chat!)  
  
Rhapsody~*  
  
  
  
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	2. Encounters

P I T C H B L A C K.............................  
............................................................a fic by Rhapsody~*  
  
.................................................................................................... 2: Encounters  
  
  
  
  
Bulma woke up sprawled beneath a pile of twisted metal and shredded leather that used to be her co-pilot's chair. With a quiet groan of pain, she mustered up the energy to prop herself up on her elbows. That was as far as she got. Bulma grimaced at her uncomfortable situation and glanced around, looking for Yamcha.   
  
"Hello?" she called weakly. "Is anybody there?"  
  
She got no reply, but the sounds of careful foot-falls could be heard from behind her. Bulma brushed her mussed hair out of her face and fought to sit up again. The heavy debris on top of and around her prevented her from sitting up, but she heard some things beginning to slide off of the pile inhibiting her. Feeling a pang of hope, she struggled to disassemble the pile on top of her.  
  
"Hey, whoever the hell that is, I could use a little bit of help here!" she shouted again, her voice getting stronger.   
  
The footsteps got softer until Bulma couldn't hear them anymore, so she assumed that whoever-- or whatever --it had been was gone. Or perhaps she had just imagined it. After a few more minutes and many more attempts, Bulma managed to get rid of the majority of the pile and slid out from under it gratefully. She felt her legs and up her torso for injuries, and was happy to find only minor bruising and some small cuts. Her clothing had been torn in several places, but this was not the time to worry about that. Getting to her feet, Bulma scanned the room, looking for Yamcha.  
  
She found him beneath a pile simliar to hers, struggling to come back to full consciousness. He refused to accept any help, and instead slid out from beneath debris himself.   
  
"What happened?" he asked groggily, rubbing a lump on the back of his head.   
  
Bulma shrugged, surveying the major damage. Their ship was pretty much totaled, and as far as she could tell, they were the only conscious passengers. "I just woke up myself. It must have happened fast. Did you hear those footsteps a few minutes ago?"  
  
Yamcha shook his head and began making his way through the wreckage to the passenger holding room. Bulma followed, praying that they would not lose too many of the innocent tourists. The door had already been freed from its hinges-- from the impact or the person whose footsteps she had overheard, she could not tell.  
  
The passenger chambers were still locked, as Yamcha had left them, but most of the glass had shattered. Bulma hurried to break the rest and check on the passengers. She barely noticed when Yamcha left her side. The first chamber she approached was Marron's. The girl was conscious and had only suffered a few cuts and bruises, as Bulma had.  
  
"Oh my God!" she began shouting hysterically. "Where's Krillen? He's DEAD, I know it! Oh my God!"  
  
Bulma shot her a glare and moved to examine Krillen's chamber. He was also awake, but had gotten a nasty cut that looked like it would need medical attention. Bulma made a mental note to stitch it up as soon as possible and tried to tune out the mushy sounds of Marron and Krillen's happy reunion. The next chamber she visited was Goku's.  
  
"Boy, am I glad that you guys are finally here!" Goku exclaimed, stepping out of his chamber on his own. "We'd better check on Chichi and Gohan."  
  
Chichi was fine, but little Gohan had a broken leg. Bulma frowned, knowing nothing about how to set a broken leg, and helped the kid out of his chamber, which had suffered the most damage out of all of them. She then noticed that Yamcha was not beside her. He was standing in front of the convict's chamber. The convict's EMPTY chamber. Bulma gasped and moved to his side.  
  
"Shit..." she breathed, examining the chamber through narrowed eyes. "He must have broken out. Look at those chains."  
  
Yamcha reached out and examined the broken chains. "He probably used both his physical strength and the force of the impact to break them. Fuck, this means that we have to find him..."  
  
Bulma turned to face him. "We do? I thought that the entire reason for bringing him along was to get rid of him. And look, now he's gone. Problem solved."   
  
"No, problem NOT solved," Yamcha corrected her quietly, turning them away from the passengers so they could not overhear. "You don't quite understand our killer friend here."  
  
Bulma crossed her arms and leaned against the convict's empty chamber, eyebrows raised in doubt. "Enlighten me. Make it quick, too, we have more than just our murderer friend to worry about at the moment."  
  
"This freak didn't just KILL somebody," Yamcha informed her seriously. "He killed LOTS of people. We're talking about a serial killer here. They could only find ten bodies, but they're sure that there's plenty more. And he wasn't curteous about it, either. I mean, take this one chick he killed for example. Blonde. Hot. Everything a guy could ask for. He doesn't RAPE her, he mutilates her pretty little face and propped her body so that when the family members found her---"  
  
Bulma clapped a hand over his mouth, looking a little pale. "I've heard enough. The man's a head case. But what can we do about it? Its not like we can outsmart him. He outsmarted the police for long enough, and escaped death row on top of that. What are you planning to do to catch him?"  
  
Yamcha took a wary look around the room, his brown eyes solemn. "I don't think that it'll take as much as you think. He's around here, all right, probably watching us. We have supplies. We have shelter. We have..." He looked Bulma up and down with a devious grin. "Fresh meat."  
  
"Not funny," Bulma commented dryly. "I think that getting ourselves organized and finding out where the hell we are should be our first priorities at the moment." She brushed the strands of hair that had escaped her ponytail out of her face, offered a small smile, and went to speak to the confused passengers.  
  
Yamcha remained where he was, watching Bulma relate some quick instructions to the passengers. The pleasant effect that her sultry little smile and sky-blue eyes had on him was a lasting one. He basked in it for a moment, then brought himself back to reality. The killer-- Vejita --was somewhere around here, thinking up of ways to torture them before he slit their throats, if he knew anything about men like him.   
  
"Yamcha, get over here," Bulma called, bringing Yamcha out of his reverie. "We're going to need your help."  
  
The captain frowned and obliged her without a word, but inside, he was already plotting ways to capture the convict and KEEP him captured, no matter what it took.  
  
  
  
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Hours later, the small group of Earthlings had formulated a basic plan. They were to search their designated areas of the ship, looking for whatever supplies remained, and survey the damage. If there was even a strip of metal that could be prepared, they were to bring it to Bulma's attention immediately. Yamcha had disappeared early on, but the hardworking passengers hardly noticed. Bulma, however, did. She found herself searching for him, not quite knowing why. She could only describe it as a feeling.  
  
"Yamcha?" she called as she entered one of the extra supply rooms. It was one of the only places she hadn't looked. "Are you in here?" She receieved eerie silence for an answer. Now growing suspicious, Bulma carefully and quietly picked her way through the rubble, her eyes scanning every corner. "I'm sick of all your bullshit! You'd better show your face and help us instead of concentrating so hard on your pathetic wild-goose chase." She kicked aside a door that was blocking her passage into the back of the room, growing angry. "You're not going to find your criminal, Yamcha, why can't you see that?!"  
  
Footsteps.  
  
Bulma whirled around, searching the room with narrowed eyes. "Who's there?"  
  
This time, she receieved a reply. She nearly jumped out of her skin.  
  
"HIS criminal?" an amused voice repeated. The speaker had to be moving, because Bulma could not pinpoint his exact location in the room.   
  
"Show yourself," Bulma demanded. "Who's there?"  
  
"His criminal..." The speaker chuckled. "Who does the prick think he is?"  
  
Bulma stopped in her tracks, the harsh reality of her situation finally starting to sink in. Her blue eyes grew wide with fear and surprise, and a cold chill traveled up her spine.   
  
"You're showing the early signs of fear already," the convict remarked. He was still moving around. Bulma's heart pounded. "But I thought that you were the hard-ass co-pilot, the fearless one that is prepared for every situation. You seemed to handle those passengers quite well."  
  
"Dealing with people comes naturally to me," Bulma called out shakily. If she could get him to keep talking, she could determine where he was and plan for her escape, or at least call for help. "It always has."  
  
"Really?" The convict sounded quite relaxed, like he was enjoying scaring her. Bulma shuddered. For all she knew, he could be right behind her, ready to stick a knife in her back. "It comes naturally to me, too."  
  
The little hairs on the back of Bulma's neck rose, and she knew that he was getting closer. "Very funny. At least you seem to have a sense of humor."  
  
"Not quite," the convict replied darkly. "I was lying."  
  
Bulma was sick of playing his little game. She braced herself for the worst. "Where are you?! Why don't you just kill me now and get it over and done with?"  
  
"Kill you? Why the hell would I want to do that?" Yamcha's voice sounded through the darkness.  
  
"Yamcha? Is that you?" Bulma yelled desperately. "Did you hear him? Did you hear the killer? He was-- IS here!"  
  
Yamcha stepped out of the shadows, his classically handsome features twisted into an expression of hate. "He's here? How do you know?"  
  
Bulma gripped his arm like some kind of damsel in distress, hating herself for it. "He-- he TALKED to me."  
  
"What did he say?" Yamcha asked, sliding an arm around her small waist, enjoying her dependence on him all of a sudden.   
  
"Nothing of importance," Bulma answered vaguely, blue eyes searching the dark corners of the large room wildly. "He's here, Yamcha, I know it..." Her voice dropped down to an urgent whisper. "Do something."  
  
Yamcha disengaged himself from her and began crossing the room, peering behind any objects that could hide a person. He was about ten feet away from Bulma when he turned to speak to her. "Nothing's here," he assured her.   
  
All of a sudden a shadowy figure stepped out from a patch of shadow and swung something hard and sharp at Yamcha's head. Yamcha didn't notice until it was almost too late. "Yamcha, look out!" Bulma screamed, pointing behind him.   
  
"Holy shit!" Yamcha exclaimed as he ducked. The broken metal pipe the convict had used got stuck in the side of the wall behind where Yamcha's head had been just a second earlier.  
  
The convict growled under his breath and fought to release the jagged pipe from the wall, his corded muscles damp with sweat. "You'd better run, you stupid little fuck!"  
  
Yamcha quickly pulled his gun out from his belt and aimed it at the convict, who had the pipe poised for a strike. The two glared at each other, evaluating their options. Bulma watched them with wide, frightened eyes that were brimming with tears.  
  
"Oh my God, Yamcha," she pleaded. "Don't shoot him. Don't shoot him."  
  
The convict's eyes flicked over to Bulma in disbelief. Bulma nearly gasped at what she saw. His eyes---they were reflective, like a cat's at night. Despite this odd trait, her heart skipped a beat, because this particular killer was a fine example of what a perfect man looked like. Besides the various tattoos, of course. But this was no time to fantasize about what he looked like.   
  
"What?" he asked. "Don't like the sight of blood?"  
  
Bulma mustered up all of her remaining courage and lifted her chin. "I know that as soon as he pulls the trigger, you're going to move to the side and whack him with that damned pipe." Remembering that she herself was armed, she pulled a small pistol out of her utility belt and aimed it at the convict's head with deadly concentration. "You'd better step down, you crazy son of a bitch."  
  
The convict smirked and dropped his pipe directly above the booted feet of Yamcha, who just barely dodged the heavy metal object. "My friends call me Vejita. What's your name?"  
  
  
  
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Bulma watched as Yamcha chained the convict, Vejita, to one of the heavy poles that supported the ceiling of the ship. Vejita sat quietly, passively, while Yamcha finished up, his strange eyes-- Bulma hadn't been able to get close enough to determine exactly what was so different about them-- taking in his surroundings. Bulma was sure to stand at least ten feet away. She was leaning against another pole of the same type directly to the criminal's northeast.  
  
"Make sure that you secure those tightly," Bulma advised Yamcha, who nodded and began double-checking the locks on the chains.   
  
Vejita chuckled and glanced over at Bulma. "Ooh, that's cold."  
  
"Its what you deserve," Yamcha said through gritted teeth. Once he had finished, he followed Vejita's eyes over to Bulma, who fidgeted uncomfortably, though her eyes were steady and strong. "I'd better not catch you looking at her again, you filthy bastard."  
  
Before Vejita could reply, Goku and Krillen entered the room, several heavy sacks of supplies slung over their shoulders. When they noticed the convict chained to the pole, they dropped their bags and jumped in surprise.  
  
"Don't worry about him, guys," Yamcha said, moving to examine their findings. "He's harmless now."  
  
Bulma shot another wary glance in Vejita's direction, not quite believing Yamcha's assumption, and moved to Yamcha's side. Vejita's strange eyes followed her movements. "What did you find?"  
  
Yamcha peered into each bag, scowled and stood up straight again. "This will last us a day and a half at the most," he snarled, crossing his arms. "Is this all that you found?"  
  
Goku nodded. "Yeah. The girls and Gohan might have found more, though."  
  
Bulma snapped her fingers. "Dammit, that's what I forgot! Do any of you guys know how to set a broken leg?"  
  
"I'd guess not," Vejita spat. "The kid won't last four days on this planet with a broken leg."  
  
Yamcha turned to glare at Vejita. "You must be joking. This is a tourist hotspot, there are safe human settlements everywhere."  
  
Bulma shook her head grimly. "No, Yamcha-- he's right."  
  
All eyes went to Bulma, whose expression was unusually grave.   
  
"You've got to be shittin' me..." Krillen grumbled, just loud enough for Bulma to make out his words.  
  
"There's nothing amusing about it," Bulma began firmly, crossing her arms. "The only safe locations on this planet are the ones cultivated and cleared out by humans, and that makes up a tiny percentage. If my calculations are correct, we're hundreds of miles away from our destination, which basically means---"  
  
"That we're screwed," Vejita finished for her. "Its quite ironic that you all get through the crash with barely a scratch, only to find out that you're all going to die anyway."  
  
"By your hand?" Yamcha quipped.  
  
Vejita shrugged as best he could with his arms secured. "Perhaps."  
  
"I didn't come along on this trip to study rocks and shit," Bulma explained to them. "I came to study the organisms that live here. And if what my father's scientists, the ones who originally landed on this planet and documented their findings for the government, found is correct, than we have one hell of problem."  
  
"Wait a minute," Yamcha exclaimed, holding up a hand. "I'm the mission leader here, and I was told that humans were only organisms alive on this planet."  
  
Bulma looked down at the floor. "The information the scientists uncovered was classified top secret. The scientists, the best besides my father, of course, disappeared soon after they returned to Earth. We all assumed that they were moved to a location where it would not be possible to pass on any information."  
  
Vejita snorted. "Yeah, like jail."  
  
Goku shook his head. "They wouldn't put them in jail. The American justice system would not allow something horrible like that to happen to innocent citizens."  
  
"I was imprisoned right down the hall from one of them," Vejita snapped, his dislike of Goku growing. "You're all in deep shit."  
  
Yamcha rested a hand on his gun before addressing Vejita directly. "And what makes you think that you have a better chance of survival? Bulma's one of the most resourceful and informed people on Earth, and I'm an astronaut. You're just a psychopath with biceps." Krillen giggled a bit, then covered his mouth when Bulma shot him a disgusted look.  
  
"Let's just say that the old man got very, very bored and he had nothing else to talk about."  
  
The corner of Yamcha's left eye began twitching. "Would you care to SHARE some of what you think you heard?"  
  
"Listen, space cadet, I might be willing to give up some information, but only if I gain from the situation." Vejita flashed a beguiling smile and regarded Yamcha with the greedy glint of a gambler in his eyes. "I think that we might be able to conjure up a little deal, don't you?"  
  
Bulma shook her head and layed on hand on Yamcha's arm. "Do it, Yamcha, we don't have a choice."  
  
"Don't you know anything?" Yamcha demanded, pulling his arm away from Bulma's hand stubbornly.   
  
She shook her head. "All that I know is that whatever lives here will not be pleased to find us here."  
  
Yamcha, refusing to give up the upper-hand, shook his head and started backing out of the room. "I'm not buying into this shit! Lets see how much you know after you starve for a little while!" He smiled triumphantly and motioned for Goku and Krillen to come with him. "There's got to be more supplies than that..."  
  
Bulma waited until Yamcha's voice had faded and the three were gone down the hall and then let out a large breath. Vejita was watching her suspiciously, and she could hardly blame him. She could hardly believe what she was going to do herself. "What do you know?"  
  
"What's it to you?" Vejita smirked. "You have Captain Yamcha, space extraordinaire, on your side!"  
  
"That's fine," Bulma snapped. "I could always just let you starve."  
  
"What makes you think that I'm even hungry?"  
  
It was Bulma's turn to smirk. "You and the rest of the passengers haven't eaten since six-thirty this morning, when the people at the base on Earth fed you, and even that would not be enough to keep a human person full for such a long time."  
  
"Well, nothing gets by you," Vejita grumbled. "But I'm not going to be so easily misled. You don't have any food to give me, even if I knew the entire history of this planet." He rolled his eyes-- Bulma once again noticed something strange about them --and ignored her, clearly expecting her to leave. And she would have, if the situation were not so vital to their survival. "What are you standing there for? If you want a damned freakshow, go and find the other passengers and leave me the fuck alone."  
  
Bulma shook her head. "Would you talk to me if I said that I could promise you the one thing that you want the most?"  
  
Vejita lifted his eyebrows and considered her statement. "Depends on what you think I want..." He glanced down at the floor and rolled his stiffening shoulders before meeting her eyes with his own. "What is it that you can reward me with?"  
  
"Your freedom."  
  
  
  
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(A/N): I know that I'm deviating from the original storyline of the movie, but its intentional, trust me. Thanks for all of the great comments so far! I'm relieved to see that I'm not the only one out there that enjoyed the movie so much. ^___^ Keep the wonderful reviews coming!   
  
HawaiianBabay@aol.com or AIM Hawaiian Babay  
  
Rhapsody~*  
  
  
  
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	3. Compromises

P I T C H B L A C K.............................  
............................................................a fic by Rhapsody~*  
  
.................................................................................................... 3: Compromises  
Vejita studied this girl-- Bulma-- with a guarded expression. Who did she think she was, moving forward to bargain with him? She was leaning against a nearby support beam, arms crossed across her chest. Her expression was guarded also, but her brightly colored eyes gave her inner turmoil away. Nervously she began fiddling with the loose strands of her long hair, wary of his close scrunity. The convict figured that there was more to her than met the eye-- she wasn't just the rich scientist daughter of the infamous Dr. Briefs, that much was clear, but she wasn't about to give that away. A smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth as he imagined all of the ways that he could find out her secrets. But that was not the matter on hand.   
  
Her deal was tempting, but not that tempting. Freedom was all well and good, but it had its limits. Who was to say that her super-hero boyfriend, Yamcha, wouldn't put a bullet in him the second he slipped out of the handcuffs? But then again, the girl was all alone, unarmed, and quite a bit weaker than himself. The odds were definitely in his favor. And then Vejita began to formulate a plan. A playful, excessively showy plan, but what other entertainment was there to be had?  
  
"All right, I'll play your game," he said suddenly. "But on MY conditions, of course."  
  
Bulma narrowed her eyes. "And what are your conditions?"  
  
Vejita considered. "Don't get the asshole involved, for one."  
  
"But he's the--" Bulma protested.  
  
"He's a dumbass," Vejita cut her off. "The second a serious problem presents itself, he'll reach for that damned gun and then we'll all be killed. And two, I get a share of the supplies."  
  
"A limited share," Bulma insisted. "We don't even know how much we have yet."  
  
"Well, take a look at you who appointed for the job." Vejita scowled. "And three... no more handcuffs. No more chains. No more isolation chambers."  
  
"I'm not going to be able to accomadate that if you go off and kill somebody," Bulma argued. "I'm not going to let you get around that. And also, how do I know that you're not going to turn around and break the deal?"  
  
The girl was sharp-- Vejita had to give her credit for that. "How do I know that you aren't going to sick Captain American on me?"  
  
"Fine," Bulma snapped, adjusting her ponytail tensely. "But if you try to do something to one of us, I'll shoot you myself." She went to retrieve the keys to the locks restraining the convict, overly aware of Vejita's eyes following her movements. She moved to release him, and, being close enough to see his eyes, paused for an uncomfortable moment. "What happened to your eyes?"  
  
Vejita flashed her that devious, arrogant smirk and blinked. "Jail gets boring after awhile, and people develop strange methods of entertainment real fast."  
  
"Entertainment?" Bulma repeated. "I don't understand."  
  
"There was a man in my block who was arrested for all of the weird operations he did on people-- you most likely don't want to know about most of them, they were just strange forms of plastic surgeries and shit-- but I wanted something...original." His eyes flashed iridescently in the dim lighting, causing Bulma to start and move back a few steps. "Nice job, eh? Who needs a light when they can see in the dark?"  
  
Bulma swallowed her fear and struggled to find words. "You mean, he fixed up your eyes so that they are like... like a cat's?"  
  
"More or less," Vejita acknowledged, that strange, sadistic expression still on his face. "Now get to it, woman, I'm sick of your stalling!"  
  
Bulma nodded, resisted the urge to run and hide in a corner, and turned the key into the heavy lock, trying her best not to give away her terrified state of mind. She could feel the murderer's hot breath on the back of her neck, and she was not sure that she liked the sensation. She kept on reminding herself that this was the only thing that she could do to save them, that Vejita was the only one who knew anything about this strange planet, but it was not exactly working. Just as the lock gave way, Yamcha burst into the room.  
  
Vejita moved as fast as lighting, and had Bulma held hostage with one muscled arm around her waist holding her to him and another holding a tiny knife he had pulled from her utility belt to her throat-- a menacing position if there ever was one-- before Yamcha could even fully grasp what had happened. The captain watched in horror as Vejita smirked and moved forward towards him, the knife still held fast at Bulma's throat.   
  
"Well, well, well," he said teasingly. "This is quite a situation, isn't it, captain? Something they probably didn't cover in astronaut training." Bulma tried to struggle against him, but the convict merely chuckled and enjoyed Yamcha's reaction as he caressed the skin at her waist. "She's quite the girl, isn't she, Superman? This was all her idea, you know. She thought that she'd save you the trouble of saving everyone and get some information out of me. She certainly held up her end of the deal-- I'm free."  
  
"Not for long," Yamcha assured him with false bravado. Bulma felt sick to her stomach at his feigned smugness. "There is something that you've forgotten, Vejita."  
  
"Really? And what would that be?"  
  
Yamcha slipped his gun out of his belt and cocked it. "This."  
  
Vejita chuckled and looked down at Bulma, who's sky-colored eyes were wide with fear. "See, what did I tell you? He reached for his gun."  
  
"Put it down, Yamcha!" Bulma warned with a sideways glance up at Vejita, who allowed her to speak. "You see that knife? Its kind of PRESSING into my fucking THROAT, you know?!"  
  
Yamcha shook his head. "He'll be dead before he can make a move."  
  
Vejita cocked a brow. "Don't be stupid, you don't have a clear shot. Besides, both you and I know that I'd be of much more value to you alive."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Bulma asked feebly.  
  
"Yes, Yamcha, what DOES that mean?" Vejita interrogated in a mocking tone .   
  
Yamcha scowled and lowered his gun for a minute. "Alright, alright. I'm a bounty hunter, if thats what you want to call it! Are you all HAPPY now? But so what? Getting a man like him off of the streets is far more important than anything else that I can do. And if I can get payed an extra buck for doing it-- then more power to me, I think. Now let her go and drop the knife, Vejita, before I put another hole your face!"  
  
Vejita's smirk disappeared and was replaced with a deadly frown. "The knife? All right." The knife clattered to the floor, and Bulma moved away from Vejita as quickly as possible. And then, unexpectedly, he charged straight at Yamcha, wrested the gun from his hand, and fired at the single dim light, casting the room in deep shadow. Bulma and Yamcha were only able to make out the flash of his eyes before he disappeared from the room.  
..........................................................................................  
"Is this all there is?" Bulma demanded a few hours later, desperately digging through the rubble in search of something, anything that would allow them to survive. "Don't tell me that all we have to drink is Krillen and Marron's WINE supply."  
  
Chichi stepped back from her searching and wiped her brow. "Afraid so. This is ridiculous! I will not have my precious Gohan drinking... THIS!"  
  
"It looks like he doesn't have much of a choice," Bulma said, sitting back. "Why the hell would they pack so much of this stuff, anyway?"  
  
Marron blushed a bit. "Well, we figured that since we were going to be here for a full WEEK, we should make sure that we don't ever run out!" She smoothed a hand over her fried hair and grinned. "Wine is just so ROMANTIC. And now look! We saved the day!"  
  
"This is pathetic," Bulma spat, getting to her feet. "The last thing we need is a bunch of drunken passengers stranded on a dangerous planet." She reached down to examine of the bottles. "And its not even good wine. Where did you get this, Wal-mart?"  
  
Marron nodded. "Well, Meijer, and thats close enough! For $14.99, too! I've always been really good at spotting bargains."  
  
"So basically this means that in total, we have four crates of Meijer's finest, a couple boxes of dried foods, and whatever the guys found." Bulma twirled a strand of hair around her finger in agitation. "And on top of that, we have Vejita on the loose. This is just-- just WONDERFUL!"  
  
"Oh, it really isn't THAT bad," Marron reassured her. "I mean, we're all still alive, right?"  
  
"For the moment!" Bulma rolled her eyes, returned the bottle of cheap wine to its crate, and stormed out of the room. She could still make out Marron's high-pitched voice calling after her, even as she exited the ship and emerged out into the arid weather outside. She spotted a group of large boulders and made for it, trying to force herself to relax. She never did get any information out of Vejita, and now they had no idea what they might encounter. She seated herself on the smallest one and released her long hair from its ponytail. The breeze picked up strands and blew them into her mouth and eyes, but she didn't care. She hardly even noticed.  
  
Suddenly Yamcha stepped out of the ship, apparently searching for her. Bulma wanted to shrink back behind the rocks and avoid the cocky man, but he soon spotted her and she knew it was too late. So she sucked it up and offered a faint smile.  
  
"I haven't been able to find any proof as to where the asshole went," he growled, taking a seat on the boulder next to her. "But I'll find it, and when I do..." He looked off into the distance, squinting against the harsh sunlight. "Kami I hate this planet!"  
  
Trying to ignore the little tidbit of information about the captain that Vejita had uncovered earlier, Bulma followed his gaze and found herself looking in the direction of the planet's two hot suns and realized something. "Yamcha-- have you noticed anything unusual about the planet so far?"  
  
"Besides the fact that there's a psychopathic serial killer wandering free on it, no, I haven't."   
  
Bulma pointed in the direction of the two suns. "We've been here for hours now, and they haven't moved."  
  
Yamcha lifted an eyebrow. "Well, suns usually don't."  
  
"They haven't moved towards the horizon at all," Bulma pointed out, starting to get worried. "That means that there is no night."  
  
"So what?" Yamcha slid off the rock and dusted himself off. "That gives us more time to get things done."  
  
Bulma raised an eyebrow. "But don't you think that that's odd?"  
  
"Not really," Yamcha replied. "I'm going back into the ship, its too damned HOT out here."  
  
Bulma watched him enter the ship, then slid off of the rock. Not quite knowing what she was looking for, she began walking in the direction of the two suns, shielding her light eyes against the harsh light. It hadn't been a mirage then-- they seemed to be securely set in one spot. Bulma was running a hand through her loose hair-- that always helped to her to focus her thoughts --when something caught her eye. Another group of boulders loomed a short distance away, but they seemed to be clustered around something... Bulma picked up her pace and jogged over to the spot to investigate. She thought nothing of the dangers of being alone, even with the convict on the loose somewhere, her scientist mind had already taken her over.  
  
She climbed over one of the rocks and peered over, trying to get a good glimpse of whatever she had gotten a glimpse of, and was shocked to see the remnants of a human skeleton scattered about in the sand. She jumped in surprise and nearly tumbled off of her boulder.  
  
"Don't be a dumbass, Bulma," she muttered to herself as she regained her balance and knelt down to get a closer look at the bones. She boldly picked up the skull that had been half-buried in the sand and held it up for inspection. The bones didn't appear to be that old, not old enough for all of the skin to rot away completely, as it obviously had. Bulma guessed that this little mystery would be the cause of quite a migraine. She found herself once again wishing that they had been able to get information out of Vejita before he had taken off. Where there had been one human, there would certainly be another. Planning to take the skull back with her as evidence, Bulma stood and was in the process of brushing her hair out of her face when she heard a noise behind her. She whirled around to face well, no one. Remembering her conversation with the convict that had started in the same fashion, she shuddered a bit and readjusted her grip on the skull. "Why don't you come out into the open and speak to my face?"  
  
She made out what sounded like a chuckle-- one she knew all too well, but that was all she heard. Shaking her head and thinking that the wind was playing tricks on her, Bulma climbed back over the boulders and headed back for the ship, all the while feeling eyes watching her every movement.  
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Vejita settled back against the boulders, studying Bulma as she hurried back to her little ship. He had been quite surprised when she had picked up that skull without hesitation. He himself had noticed the same things that she had, but unlike her, he knew the answers to the baffling questions. Shaking his head at their ill fate, he turned back to look at the bones again. Also unlike Bulma, his eyesight was sharp enough to make out the tiny little toothmarks engraved on the remains.   
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(A/N): This was definitely one of my shorter chapters, but don't worry! Its not writer's block, its precise planning... ^_~... Updates should be coming faster from now on because I recently sat my lazy ass down and created a detailed outline for this and my other fic, so keep an eye out. Feel free to contact me about anything, and remember to REVIEW! And btw, was I the only one extremely disappointed with the Grammy's last night? Norah Jones (I can't stand the girl, no offense) w/ 8 AWARDS!! Grrr.... I am an avid Eminem fan and I have to say that I was a little bit perturbed... but thats just my opinion... ja ne!  
  
HawaiianBabay@aol.com  
AIM Hawaiian Babay  
Rhapsody~*  
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	4. Negotiations

P I T C H B L A C K.............................  
............................................................a fic by Rhapsody~*  
  
.................................................................................................... 4: Negotiations  
"Ow, Mom!" Gohan wailed, gripping his injured leg. Tears were already beginning to spill over, a sure sign of trouble, if Yamcha knew anything about kids. "It really, really hurts!"  
  
Chichi took her son into her arms and shot Yamcha and Bulma a venomous look. "Hear that? My baby's in PAIN! I demand that you use some of the morphine on him, right now!"  
  
When Bulma remained silent, as she had been ever since coming back onto the ship, Yamcha sighed and responded for her. "The organisms living on this planet may be hostile, and if they are then we'll need all of the medicine we can get. Besides, a clean break like that can be set with some bandages and a splint, no problem. Don't you agree, Bulma?"  
  
Bulma didn't respond, as if she hadn't even heard him. Yamcha frowned and waved a hand in front of her face impatiently. Bulma blinked, then brushed her loose hair out of her eyes. "What? Did you ask me something?"  
  
"Yes, I did," Yamcha answered shortly. "Gohan's leg has a clean break, and those can be easily set with a splint, right?"  
  
"As far as I know," Bulma said vaguely. "Give him some morphine for now. The pain is probably horrible."  
  
"That's the problem!" Chichi exclaimed angrily. "Our good CAPTAIN, the one responsible for all our LIVES, is refusing to hand over even a DROP of the stuff!"  
  
"What? Why?" As soon as the words came out of her mouth, Bulma remembered Yamcha's newly discovered identity-- the bounty hunter --and wondered if he had something up his sleeve. She recalled them stocking plenty of morphine, certainly enough to have a decent amount surviving the crash.   
  
Yamcha crossed his arms. "You all don't seem to understand. All that we know about the creatures on this planet is that they might be hostile, and thats not enough for me. So unless you're on the brink of death, you don't get any medicine!"  
  
Bulma regarded him with serious eyes. "And what if, unexpectedly, YOU get hurt? What will you do then?" At his silence, she shook her head and motioned for him to follow her out of the ship, where they could be alone. "I think that this would be an appropriate time to talk."  
  
"About what?" Yamcha demanded, though he still allowed himself to be led over to the group of boulders where Bulma had found the skeleton.   
  
Bulma pulled the skull out of the bag she had been carrying and held it up for his inspection. He took it in his hands and examined it the very same way she had, searching for imperfections that would prove that it was fake. And, by the look in his eyes, Bulma could also guess that he was thinking the same thing she had-- the skeleton was not very old. Not old enough to rest easily in the back of your mind.   
  
"Where the hell did you get this?" he asked. "What's going on?"  
  
"Over here." Bulma climbed over the boulders and moved aside to allow him to get a good look. "Now don't try to tell me that whatever did that is going to like us being here. And look." She ran a finger down the side of the skull, pointing out the deep teethmarks that he had apparently failed to notice before. "Teethmarks. And whatever is strong enough to make big dents in bone is, well, substantially powerful. Crocodiles and hyenas are pretty much the only animals I can think of that can do it to this extent, if even."   
  
Yamcha rolled his eyes. "This only convinces me to be even stricter with the morphine."  
  
"Don't you see?" Bulma held up a fractured rib. "Whatever did this isn't going to pause long enough to cause minor injuries! Its better to keep everyone healthy and strong so that they can escape from these things BEFORE they get to us!"  
  
"This isn't good," Yamcha said, leaning back against one of the boulders. "With these monsters on the loose plus Vejita... this isn't going to be your typical vacation."  
  
"You noticed," Bulma retorted. "What's wrong with you?! We have bigger problems than Vejita at the moment! I would rather be stabbed by HIM than devoured by--by..." She held up the bone again. "whatever did THIS. How about you?"  
  
Yamcha shook his head doubtfully. "Come on, Bulma, we've got to start thinking more clearly..."  
..........................................................................................  
Vejita listened in on their conversation from between a few boulders nearby. Yamcha was clearly past the point of reason, and he couldn't honestly say that Bulma herself wasn't jaded. The girl seemed obsessed with finding out the identity of whatever it was that had killed the unfortunate human owner of the skull she was waving around so casually. Vejita rolled his eyes at another one of Yamcha's ridiculous defensive comments and shaded his eyes against the two bright suns, resenting the fact that he would have to return to the ship to retrieve his sunglasses, which had been packed away with the other few belongings he had been allowed to take. Not that he needed them-- it was more of a comfort thing.   
  
"I would rather be stabbed by HIM than devoured by whatever did THIS," Bulma was protesting.   
  
Vejita raised an eyebrow and peered around his boulder to get a better view of the two, his interest caught by this comment. He still had the girl's small knife-- perhaps her wish could soon come true. The convict concentrated on them and quickly realized that he could manuever around the boulders and get a clear view from directly behind Bulma, who was so involved in the conversation that she wouldn't have noticed if he just stood up and WALKED over there. But as much amusement as that would bring him, Yamcha was most likely still armed, and the convict just didn't feel like dealing with a shotgun wound.  
  
"What I can't understand is why you are being so paranoid," Yamcha was saying. "If the creatures were going to attack us, don't you think that they would have done it already? You've been out here, alone and unprotected, a few times now, and you've encountered nothing. How do you know that this guy didn't die of natural causes?"  
  
Bulma rolled her eyes. "Explain the teethmarks in the bone then, Yamcha. You're being stupid-- why sit around here and wait for something to happen? I would much rather learn everything I can about these things before I go face to face with one."  
  
A good point, Vejita noted, taking the knife out of his pocket and running his finger up and down the blade absently. He was seriously considering sticking the knife into the girl's back and watching the captain's reaction...or the other way around.  
  
"You know NOTHING!" Yamcha shouted in frustration. "I don't CARE about your stupid ideas! I just want to get off of this fucking planet and go home!"  
  
Bulma crossed her arms. "But not before you capture Vejita, right? I can't easily see you throwing a reward like the one he must bring away." The girl's eyes, the exact color of the cloudless sky above their heads, the sky that Vejita was so relieved to be able to see again, locked on Yamcha and stayed there.  
  
"That's right!" Yamcha crossed his arms. "If you had any idea how much he's worth right now, you would be out there trying to find him yourself-- at any cost."  
  
"At any cost?" Bulma shuddered. "Well, that's reassuring. I think that I'll just throw myself off of a cliff now and get it over with." When Yamcha did not answer, she sighed and leaned against Vejita's boulder. Strands of her hair hung dangerously close to his face. He slid aside a few inches. "Seriously, Yamcha-- what are we going to do? Vejita is the only one who knows anything about what we might find here, and now he's gone. What are we going to do?"  
  
"We're going to repair the ship as fast as we can and get the hell out of here."  
  
"I'm telling you right now that with all of the damage, it could take over a week to restore, if we can even fix it at all." Bulma dropped the skull back into the sand hopelessly. "I think that our only bet is Vejita."  
  
"Vejita?!" Yamcha repeated incredulously. "You experienced that mistake firsthand, not even four fucking hours ago! Are you willing to risk your life AGAIN? I'm not."  
  
"Then that's a choice that you're just going to have to make," Bulma informed him confidently. "With both Goku and Krillen on my side, I'm sure that Vejita can be easily overpowered if he decides to pull something. And besides, I've always got my gun and knife." She reached down to pull her weapons out of her utility belt. "Well, I have my gun at least."  
  
"You mean that Vejita is ARMED now?" Yamcha ran a shaky hand through his hair. "And with a knife, his weapon of choice? This sucks, Bulma-- I can't believe that you didn't notice this before."  
  
Vejita slid Bulma's knife into the palm of his hand where he could use it if necessary. Things sounded like they were about to get ugly, and he wanted to be sure that he was the one to make the first killing-- it would be a shame for Captain America to get all of the glory. He daringly moved to sit between the boulders surrounding him, where both Yamcha and Bulma could catch a glimpse of him if they shut their traps for half a second. Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long.  
  
"You!" Yamcha shouted, reaching clumsily for his gun while Bulma whirled around to see who he was speaking to. "You'd better be still, unless you want to be shot!"  
  
Bulma's voice was clear and steady, though her pretty eyes were darting from Yamcha to Vejita wildly. "Don't be stupid, Yamcha, he's probably been sitting there for the entire conversation. And besides, wouldn't a bullet affect his value?" The co-captain crossed her arms and glared at Yamcha accusingly.  
  
"Enough with the accusations already!" Yamcha exclaimed, activitating the safety on his gun once again. "Fine! Look-- no gun! Now please, Vejita, we can work this all out in a peaceful way."  
  
Vejita stretched a bit, then crossed his arms and leaned against the boulder, clearly doubtful. "Perhaps."  
  
"Listen," Bulma started cautiously, keeping her eyes on her knife, which was still nestled in Vejita's palm, at the ready. The convict was surprised at her rather cool demeanor-- he wasn't sure if he should be amused or disappointed. "I have an idea." Her lips curled into a wry smile. "And look, I'm out of reach-- how comforting... Anyway, you and I both know that you can't survive for very long without supplies of some kind, and we have that. And I think that its becoming increasingly obvious that," she shot a venomous look over at Yamcha. "we wouldn't be able to defend ourselves against very much of anything right now."  
  
"I know where this is going," Vejita interuppted. "You think that if you let me have a little bit of your disgusting dried space food, then I'm just going to smile like a dumbass and help you with whatever your little heart desires."  
  
"I would prefer that it went that way," Yamcha grumbled, crossing his arms sullenly.  
  
"I have news for you," Vejita said. "That's not going to happen."  
  
Bulma watched as he ran a finger along the blade of her knife. "I thought not. What do you want, then?"  
  
"I want what you want," the convict remarked with a scowl. "To get the hell off of this rock. Preferably alive."  
  
"Very funny." Bulma was growing sick of this man's sarcasm very quickly. Nobody seemed to think that their situation was an urgent one, and it was beginning to vex her. "If you're just going to throw everything back at me, then we aren't going to get anything settled."  
  
"I have to agree with that," Yamcha said, his fingers tightening on his gun as he raised it to aim at Vejita, who didn't even flinch. "If you aren't going to work with us, then you're going to spend the rest of the trip crippled!"  
  
Vejita held up his hands, though he knew that Yamcha wouldn't shoot him. He was getting sick of hiding in the shadows, waiting for something to happen. "Fine. I would relax if I were you-- its not me that you've got to worry about now."  
  
Bulma sighed in relief and put a hand on Yamcha's arm. "Save your bullets for emergencies, Yamcha." Turning to Vejita, she asked a bit tensely, "Come back to the ship with us. I would rather tell everyone what's happened then have them find out the hard way." Without waiting for an answer, Bulma offered a half-smile and started heading back to the ship, leaving Yamcha and Vejita alone amongst the boulders. A perfect opportunity, but Vejita knew better than to spoil everything so soon. The image of Bulma's pale, twinkling eyes stayed in his mind's eye for a long moment before he was able to shake it out, so his reflexes would not have been up to par anyway. Surprisingly, it was Yamcha who made the first move.  
  
"If you try anything, even put so much as an accidental scratch on ANYONE, then I'll shove you in a supply closet and leave you there until we reach Earth," he warned. Vejita noticed that, up close, Yamcha's eyes were unusually bloodshot. "Do you understand what I'm saying, you evil son of a bitch?"  
  
Vejita smirked and pressed his knife to Yamcha's throat before the captain had time to blink. "I will be dictated by no one, and especially not by a sniveling little punk like you." He shoved him, hard, back into the boulders, his face twisted into an expression of disgust. "So kiss my ass, you little motherfucker, and remember this moment the next time you try to push me around." He then turned and headed back to the ship, where Bulma had disappeared.  
..........................................................................................  
After explaining the new development to the less-than-confident passengers, who were still hard at work looking for and collecting supplies, Bulma was free to have a quiet moment to herself. She was extremely grateful to find one of the back storage rooms empty, or so she thought. When she went to sit down on what used to be a large box, she heard a shuffling noise from the shadows in the one of the corners of the room. Thinking it was nothing but her imagination, she ignored it and closed her eyes, hoping to doze off for a few minutes. But when the noise sounded again, she found that she could not ignore it any longer.  
  
"Hello?" she called. "Vejita, is that you?"  
  
When she didn't receive an answer, she stood and walked confidently over to the corner where she heard the noise and was more than little surprised to find Yamcha hunched over a box of something that looked suspiciously like injections of morphine. She narrowed her eyes and cleared her throat to get his attention. He whirled around, dropping the needle he had been using to shoot himself up. Bulma's blue eyes widened when she realized what he had been doing.  
  
"I can't believe it!" she exclaimed angrily, picking up one of the injections and holding it up to the dim light. "So this is why you are being so tight-fisted about these damned things-- you're using them to get yourself high!"  
  
"Its not what you think!" Yamcha tried to explain.  
  
Bulma threw the needle at him furiously. "Like hell it isn't! What is your fucking problem, Yamcha? Do you have any idea how much of a waste that is? We could have put poor Gohan out of his misery with these!"  
  
Yamcha scowled. "So you found me out. Big deal. We are both mature adults, and we can handle this properly, without any violence." He eyed the broken needle she had thrown at him. "If you want my help, then you're going to have to accept this, because its what keeping me alert and ready to defend all of YOU!"  
  
"Ready to defend us?" Bulma's voice was doubtful and bitter. "I think that at the moment, even Vejita is more suited to that job."  
  
Yamcha tossed his used needle aside angrily. "Don't you bring him into this conversation! Do you know what he did to me? As soon as you turned your back, he threatened me with his fucking KNIFE and pushed me into those boulders! And you're going to be depending on HIM to help us?" He shook his head in disbelief. "Maybe you all deserve what's coming to you."  
  
Bulma, too angry to even think straight, shook her head and stormed out of the room. She didn't trust herself not to throw herself at Yamcha and attack the sick bastard. Before she had a chance to escape, Yamcha called out after her. She paused and turned to face him slowly.  
  
"You realize that the second we get the ship repaired, he's going to jump in and leave us here, right?"  
  
"Nice try, Captain," Bulma retorted. "He wouldn't be able to get this ship off the ground. Not without some training."  
  
Yamcha chuckled almost insanely. "Haven't I filled you in on the details of his escape? He can work all kinds of machines, and quite well, too." At her silence, he continued on. "You see, our little friend had quite an easy time escaping death row..."  
..........................................................................................  
(A/N): The movie doesn't fill you in on the particulars, so why should I? To prevent any unnecessary rambling, I figured that this was as good a spot as any to end it. This chapter is a little longer than my previous one, so I hope that you enjoyed it. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments or anything. I just saw the movie again yesterday, so my mind is freshly filled with some more ideas..... ^__^ Expect another update by Thursday. Ja ne! Please remember to REVIEW!  
  
HawaiianBabay@aol.com  
AIM Hawaiian Babay  
Rhapsody~*  
.......................................................................................... 


	5. Discoveries

P I T C H B L A C K.............................  
............................................................a fic by Rhapsody~*  
  
.................................................................................................... 5: Discoveries  
Yamcha tightened the lid on the last box of dried foods and grimaced. The two suns were hot, there wasn't enough to drink, and that Marron chick was really starting to get on his nerves. They were outside the ship, standing just close enough to the ship to benefit from the shade it provided, taking inventory of what little supplies they had been able to find. And, judging by the modest amount they had recovered, it wasn't going to take very much longer.   
  
"Bulma!" Marron called in her high-pitched, overly nasal voice. "I'm thirsty! Do you think that you could get that done just a LITTLE faster?" Krillen, who was following her around like a little puppy dog, nodded in agreement.  
  
Bulma looked up from her work making filters for the wine bottles, her face twisted into an expression of extreme annoyance. "No, Marron, I don't think that I can. We're ALL thirsty, and I'm going as fast as I fucking can!"  
  
Chichi covered Gohan's ears with distaste. "Could you please stop your unnecessary swearing?! We are in the presence of a CHILD!"  
  
Gohan, his temper shortened from the heat and lack of water, squirmed away from his mother. "Geez, Mommy, leave me alone!" He limped over to where his father was going through some boxes.   
  
Goku put a comforting arm around his son and turned to Bulma. Even the friendly, even-tempered man couldn't contain his irritation. "Bulma, do you think that we could spare even a DROP of that morphine? Gohan's in a lot of pain, you know?"  
  
"Goku," Bulma began tiredly. "I'm really sorry, but there's not way that I can do that. Don't get me wrong, I would love to give him an entire injection, but SOMEONE has forbidden that for the moment." All eyes went to Yamcha, who glared back and continued on with his work. "He'll feel better once he gets some water-- I'm almost finished."  
  
Vejita, who had been off somewhere exploring, or so everyone thought, came around the side of the ship, shading his sensitive eyes against the harsh, mid-afternoon (?) sun. Everyone except for Yamcha turned away and apparently had gotten a renewed interest in their work. Yamcha kept his eyes locked on the convict, who ignored him balatantly.  
  
"So, what were you doing while the rest of us were busting our asses for your benefit?" he demanded, taking a seat on top of the box he had just finished sorting. "Killing aliens? Saving lives?"  
  
"You know, once you're finished with this whole Space Cadet thing, you should consider a career in comedy," Bulma snapped, throwing down her work in frustration. "I don't know about the rest of you, but Yamcha's attitude is really starting to piss me off!" When she got no response but a smirk from Vejita, she continued on, her voice rising in agitation. "Everything is a contest for you! Yes, you are our captain, but that damn well doesn't give you the right to harass everyone! If you absolutely can't keep your mouth shut, then spare us your sarcasm and go shoot yourself up with the contents of our precious med supply again, alright?!" She picked up her work again and tuned everything else out, her face set into a mask of concentration.  
  
Yamcha frowned, his face red. "Well, I'm sorry that I bother you so much. Maybe you should just... SHOOT me or something."  
  
Bulma shook her head, gritting her teeth. "Don't tempt me."  
  
"Well, its nice to know that our little expedition is so well organized and maintained by such dependable leaders." Vejita glared at Gohan, who whimpered and leaped into his mother's arms, leaving his seat vacant. Vejita gladly took it and leaned against the ship.   
  
"I don't like sitting around here, waiting for something to happen," Krillen commented, breaking the silence. "Don't you think that we should be looking for signs of civilization or something? How do you guys know that we aren't close to a settlement?"  
  
"Because they would have shown up on radar," Bulma pointed out. "And besides, all of the settlements are pretty much clustered into one small area, and we overshot that spot by hundreds of miles."  
  
Gohan, who had been ignoring the conversation thus far, suddenly turned in his mother's arms to face Vejita, who raised an eyebrow in surprise. It wasn't often that young kids addressed him. "Did ya ever kill somebody?" the child asked naively, his brown eyes, almost identical to his father's, wide with wonder and a little bit of fear.  
  
"Plenty of people," Vejita answered with a half-smile. "Have you?"  
  
Gohan shuddered and turned away again, burying his face in his mother's shirt. Bulma, who had been watching the little exchange with interest, suddenly met Vejita's eyes. She held them for a moment, just to look braver than she felt, and then lowered her gaze again. She put the finishing touches on the filter she had constructed and smiled. She could still feel Vejita's eyes on her.  
  
"I'm finished!" she announced triumphantly. "Anyone want to try it?"  
  
Goku rushed forward and snatched the bottle. He didn't look twice at the odd-looking straw coming out of the bottle. "I'm so thirsty right now, I could drink the wine WITHOUT a filter!"  
  
Once they had determined that Bulma's makeshift filter worked, bottles were distributed with a strict warning to save what little they had. The passengers left their work half-finished to explore the immediate area, leaving Yamcha, Bulma, and Vejita, who had his eyes closed and appeared to be dozing, alone in the shadow of the wrecked ship. Bulma watched Chichi, Gohan, and Goku play in the sand wistfully, her blue eyes thoughtful.   
  
"What are you staring at?" Yamcha asked shortly, taking a sip of the filtered wine. "Haven't you ever seen a family before?"  
  
Bulma sighed. "I'm sorry for looking in their direction. Should I ask your permission before I do it again?" She jumped up from her sitting position, stretched her stiff arms, and stormed off towards the group of boulders where they had encountered Vejita. She gracefully maneuvered between then and sat in the small patch of shade that they offered. She took the opportunity to get a closer look at the bones.  
  
"Do you think that its a wise idea to let them frolick around like tourists, alone?"  
  
Bulma lifted her gaze to meet Vejita's reflective eyes in surprise. "What are you doing here? Its much cooler over by the ship, isn't it?"  
  
Vejita picked up a femur bone and ran a finger over the teethmarks. "What a lucky fuck. He was probably still alive and screaming while they ripped the meat away from his bones." He tossed the bone carelessly aside.  
  
"What do you mean?" Bulma asked curiously, though she kept a wary eye on the convict while he situated himself directly across from her, half-shrouded in the shadow that the boulders provided. For some reason, she was thinking of him as less of a menacing person, once he was talking to her about other things besides the possibility of slitting her throat.  
  
"I mean that our little friends prefer the taste of fresh meat and warm blood," Vejita elaborated. Bulma cringed a bit at his crude wording, but she hadn't expected him to be diplomatic about it. "They damn near eat you alive."  
  
"That's disgusting," Bulma said, pulling her knees up to her chest uncomfortably. "What else do you know?"  
  
"Nothing that will be of any use to you," Vejita said, apparently sick of talking about the entire matter. "Tell me-- how are you planning on getting that mangled piece of shit that you like to call a ship off the ground again?"  
  
Bulma took out her ponytail, detangling it with her fingers as she thought about his question. "That's a good question. I was hoping that we could use our capsule ship to get out of here. All we need are some energy cells to lift one of those off the ground."  
  
Vejita smirked knowingly. "Both you and I know that one of those things has a capacity to carry four or five people at the most. What were you planning on doing, leaving a select few behind?"  
  
Bulma lifted her chin defiantly. "If thats what it takes. I'm willing to pay a price to save at least some of these people."  
  
"How heroic," Vejita remarked. "I'm sure that your family will appreciate the medal the government sends them-- you know, the kind they send when the person receiving it is dead. They'll be thrilled at how much it brightens up your grave."  
  
"I don't plan on dying, Vejita." Bulma stood and brushed herself off. "And I don't plan on leaving anyone behind, either."  
  
Vejita didn't bother to stand. He instead studied Bulma intently with his unnatural eyes, his expression serious. "That's too bad. If you ever encounter the need to lighten the load, I'll be around."  
  
As Bulma headed back to the ship, she started thinking that there just might be a possibility that she would have to take Vejita up on his strange offer. Soon.  
..........................................................................................  
"Krillen, Chichi, Goku, and Gohan-- you're going to stay back here and look after the ship. If anything shows up, even if it seems peaceful, go inside and STAY inside. Unless you have some perverse desire to be dead, then I suggest you follow my advice." Bulma brushed some hair out of her eyes. "Marron, Yamcha, Vejita, and I will go exploring, if you will. We should be back in no more than an hour. If we aren't back by then, send someone after us or something."  
  
"But I want to go, too!" Gohan protested, tugging at his mother's shirt impatiently. "Mommy, why can't I go?"  
  
"Because you're still a shrimp!" Yamcha told him, turning and starting in the direction of one the suns. "Come on guys, I want to get this over with."  
  
Bulma rolled her eyes and began following. "Yes, master..."  
  
They had been walking for almost a half-hour when Marron called out, her voice raised to a level that was almost painful. "HEY GUYS! I THINK I SEE SOMETHING!"  
  
The group had become a bit spread out over time, with Yamcha far in the front and Marron not that far behind. Bulma trailed about fifty feet behind them, with Vejita periodically disappearing and reappearing on his own. Bulma could hardly blame him. She itched to go and take a look around herself, but was unwilling to put up with Yamcha's bitching. But despite their separation, all heard her quite clearly. Bulma hoped that nothing else did.   
  
"What is it?" she called back, her voice cracking from lack of water. "What do you see?"  
  
Marron pointed in the direction of large sand dune. "IT LOOKS LIKE TREES!"  
  
"Trees?" Bulma hurried to catch up to Marron and Yamcha. Vejita was already there. "That doesn't make sense. Any trees still standing are bound to be dead in this heat."  
  
"Then explain THAT," Marron said, pointing in the direction of the dune. "Take a closer look."  
  
Bulma squinted and shaded her eyes from the harsh sun. She saw what looked like a cluster of dead, decaying trees, but with this heat and the lack of hydration, it could have easily been a mirage. "Looks like you're right. Let's go." She hurried towards the 'trees' without waiting for the others. "Holy shit..." she breathed, taking in lay before her. The others quickly caught up and were similiarly speechless, with the exception of Vejita, who simply crossed his arms.  
  
"We're all going to DIE!" Marron screeched, gripping Yamcha's arm desperately. "Whatever is strong enough to kill THOSE could like, SWALLOW me!"  
  
Bulma couldn't blame her. What they had previously believed to be trees turned out to be the twisted remains of what looked like dinosaurs, though they were much bigger than most of the remains Bulma had seen over the years. She started down the dune, eager to examine the bones for teethmarks. She knew before she reached them that they would be there.  
  
"Screw this," Yamcha said from beside her, looking at something in the distance. "Look!"  
  
Bulma looked in the direction he pointed and all thoughts of the teethmarks were gone from her mind. "A settlement!" she exclaimed. "Over there!" She began threading her way through the obstacle course of skeletons, barely even noticing the holes in the sand lining the canyon-like place they had entered when they came over the sand dune. When she reached the settlement, however, her face fell. It was deserted. Yamcha and Marron stopped beside her while Vejita moved ahead to investigate. "This place has been deserted for years now."  
  
"You think?" Yamcha snapped, moving towards one of the largest buildings. "Take a look around. Maybe we can find something useful around here."  
  
Marron put a comforting hand on Bulma's shoulder, her almost too big eyes round with sympathy. "I'm sorry-- I know how much you wanted to find civilization here. Look on the bright side, though! Maybe there's a ship around here somewhere." She flipped her fried hair and scurried off after Yamcha, her mouth running a mile a minute when she finally caught up to him.   
  
Bulma stood in the middle of the deserted, crumbling settlement with tears of frustration and utter hopelessness shining in her eyes. "What was I expecting? New York City?" She shook her head at her own foolishness and started towards one of the smaller buildings, not knowing exactly what it was that was drawing her to it. Perhaps it was the tattered clothes that still hung on a fallen clothing line, or maybe it was the open door. Whatever it was, there she went, ready for anything. Or so she thought.  
  
"What did you expect?" Vejita asked from behind her. Bulma didn't even turn to look at him, instead keeping a steady pace towards the building, her jaw set stubbornly. She was going to find something, dammit, if she had to search the entire settlement! "Why do you think that this settlement didn't show up on radar?"  
  
"Leave me alone!" Bulma exclaimed, stopping in front of the building. "Go find someone else to intimidate."  
  
"You don't mean that." Vejita stepped in front of her, arms crossed. "You're just pissed off because you know what I know. Its hopeless. You won't find help here, or anywhere else on this shitty planet."  
  
Bulma glared up at him boldly, momentarily forgetting that she was dealing with America's most wanted. "Step out of my way. Now!" When he didn't budge, she slid past him and entered the house. As far as she knew, Vejita followed her, though she couldn't hear his footsteps.  
  
It was dim inside, with only a few patches of light here and there where sunlight came in through dusty windows. It looked as if this were a town gathering place or something of that sort. The most interesting thing about the room was an old, rickety mobile-like thing sitting on a desk in the middle of the room. Bulma approached it and spun it around, watching the planets, suns, and moons spin on their mini-axis through narrowed eyes. There was something significant about the way the planets were moving in relation to the sun, but she couldn't quite pinpoint it... Then suddenly it came to her.   
  
"There is no darkness," she whispered to herself. "No night..."  
  
She furrowed her brows and spun the thing again, taking a closer look with renewed interest. The planets seemed to be aligning as the little number counter on the bottom clicked away. When the numbers turned to form a date nearly identical to the current one, Bulma stopped turning the mobile and studied it, her hands beginning to tremble. An eclipse.  
  
"Oh, Kami..."  
  
"Good girl," Vejita commented from the doorway. "Surprise, surprise, huh?"  
  
Bulma released the mobile and stepped back, crossing her arms in thought. "There is no night, ever. But today, or what I THINK is today, there is an eclipse..." She turned the mobile again. "And look-- it lasts for so long. I've never heard of such a thing."  
  
Vejita came closer. "Well, you'd better start getting used to the idea."  
  
Yamcha and Marron appeared in the doorway with empty arms, but Bulma hardly cared anymore. Vejita was trying to warn her about something to do with the eclipse, but what? What was the significance of a little bit of darkness?  
  
"Hey, take a look at this," Yamcha called from across the room. He and Marron were kneeling beside what looked like a trap door. Vejita helped them to pry the door open and boldly stepped in and looked down into the deep, bomb-shelter-esque place. Bulma peered down, and when she saw what littered the bottom of the pit she gasped and nearly fell in. Vejita steadied her. The floor of the pit was covered with a layer of bones. Human bones. Entire skeletons of what looked like the entire settlement made up a thick layer on the floor.  
  
"Oh, Kami," she exclaimed. "What happened?"  
  
"They thought that they would be safe down there," Vejita muttered to himself. "But they forgot to lock the damned door."  
  
Comprehension was beginning to creep into Bulma's mind. "Safe... You don't mean that... ?" She whirled around and studied the mobile again, her blue eyes wide with fear. "They come out at night. Only at night."  
  
Marron's eyes began to fill with tears. "Oh, no! An eclipse would mean that they would all come out! How long will it last, Bulma?"  
  
"I don't know," Bulma said in a mindless monotone. "I don't know."  
  
"Well, we're not going to stick around long enough to find out!" Yamcha said as he slammed the cellar door shut, leaving the skeletons to rest in peace once again. "Lets get out of here."  
  
He got no argument, but Bulma paused just as they were about to leave the settlement. Something had caught her eye, something important. She turned and ran back into the settlement, to an area that had been left unexplored. The others followed her, not quite expecting what they would see after such a startling discovery.  
  
"Thank you!" Bulma shouted to the sky. "A ship!" She climbed up onto her discovery, a medium-sized, well-worn ship that looked as if it could carry five or six people.   
  
"Who knows how it runs?" Yamcha pointed out doubtfully. "Probably like shit, if its been rotting here for so long."  
  
Bulma smiled. "Well, its better than nothing, don't you think? I don't want to stick around here long enough to experience that fucking eclipse firsthand." She climbed inside to get a better look. "It doesn't look too bad. We'll just need some energy cells, and we're gone."  
  
Marron giggled happily. "Oh, I can't WAIT to tell Krillen about this! Let's get going!"  
  
For once, Bulma was in total and complete agreement with her.  
..........................................................................................  
But when they returned to camp, Krillen was nowhere to be found. Goku, Chichi, and Gohan sat crowded together in the shade of the ship, their faces pale and expressions frightened. Yamcha went right past them and into the ship-- wanting some more morphine, Bulma thought sarcastically --while Vejita hung back, studying the surroundings and the positions of the two suns carefully.   
  
"Where's Krillen?" Marron demanded, putting her hands on her hips. "Where's my honey-bunny?"  
  
Goku lifted a shaky finger and pointed in the direction of an ominous sand dune a few hundred feet away. "He went... to look... at the hole. Somebody help him!"  
  
Bulma, alarmed at Goku's strange, stammering speech pattern, and sprinted to the dune he had pointed out, Marron hot on her heels. They found the hole, all right, and not just because it was large and soaked with what looked like fresh blood, but also because all around it were what looked like hollow tunnels reaching out of the ground and at least ten feet into the air. They reminded Bulma of termite hills, but she didn't put much more thought into them than that.   
  
"Krillen?" she called meekly, peering into the hole while staying as far away as possible. "Are you in there?"  
  
Marron turned and vomited at the sight and overwhelming smell of all the blood. Bulma could hardly blame her. Krillen was, after all, her boyfriend.  
  
"Someone's going to have to go in the hole," she said, stepping back.   
  
Vejita came over the dune, followed by Yamcha and Goku's family, and scowled when he got a look at the blood, the termite hills, and the hole.   
  
"Don't even bother," he said. "He's beyond help."  
  
"How can you say that?" Bulma demanded with a sideways glance at Marron, who was sobbing uncontrollably, little spots of vomit staining her shirt and lingering on her chin. "We have to at least TRY to find him."  
  
"Hey, if you want to go and look, be my guest." Vejita stepped back and nodded at the hole. "You're going to need some rope."  
  
Yamcha frowned and started back towards the ship for some rope. Bulma couldn't tear her eyes away from the hole-- and all of that blood. She had a sinking feeling that even if she did find Krillen, he wouldn't be in one piece.  
..........................................................................................  
(A/N): Sorry for the late update. I was planning to have this done on Thursday, but school calls! I made sure that this chapter was longer than the last one because I'm sooo happy with the reviews for this story! Thanks all you for your support and wonderful comments! I don't think that the next chapter will be out until the middle of next week, but I promise you that it will be well worth it! Prepare for some blood, gore, and (of course) romance! Ja ne! And please remember to REVIEW!  
  
Rhapsody~*  
HawaiianBabay@aol.com  
AIM Hawaiian Babay  
.......................................................................................... 


	6. Revelations

P I T C H B L A C K.............................  
............................................................a fic by Rhapsody~*  
  
.................................................................................................... 6: Revelations  
Bulma stood outside of the hole, waiting for Yamcha to return from the ship with a length of rope or bungee cord or whatever they could manage to find. The strong smell of the blood was intensified by the increasing heat of the day. The others, save Vejita (who Bulma was sure was intimately familiar with both the sight and smell of blood), had moved away from the hole to escape the smell. But not Bulma. Here she was, standing right in the middle of the blood-soaked area, her nostrils burning from the nauseating smell.  
  
"Where's that rope?!" she called over her shoulder impatiently. Now that she had had some time to think about what might be in that hole and what it might be capable of doing to someone, this rescue idea was looking less appealing by the second. "I wish that Yamcha would hurry his ass up!"  
  
"I'm sure that you're just DYING to crawl into that mess," Vejita wisecracked with a half-smile. "If you'll excuse my little pun there."  
  
"I'm not afraid," Bulma assured him defensively. "The smell is making me sick, that's all." There was something about the challenging tone of his voice that made her on edge all the time, even when she was positive that he wasn't intentially doing it.  
  
"Bullshit." Vejita crossed his arms and leaned boldly against one of the 'termite hills'. "You're shaking in your little space boots right now."  
  
"Why do you always have to indimidate everybody?" Bulma demanded irritably, crossing her own arms across her chest. "We all know what you've done and who you are-- you don't have to keep on reminding us."  
  
"Is that what you think I'm doing?" Vejita's cocky half-smile was replaced with a scowl. "You've got something else com--"  
  
"Here's your fucking rope," Yamcha snarled, tossing it at Bulma, who caught it a bit awkwardly. "Have fun on your little scavenger hunt." When all Bulma did was stare at him in surprise, he threw up his hands. "Well? Get to it!"  
  
Bulma made a face, glanced over at Vejita, who's glare was locked on Yamcha, then moved towards the hole as she tied the rope around her waist. "Somebody secure that. I'll pull it a couple times if I want to come back, so pay attention." She tried to sound relatively fearless, but she had a feeling that most everybody could see right through her. Using one hand to protect her nose against the offensive stench of blood, she ducked into the hole and began making her way slowly, steadily down.  
  
She didn't see much at first-- just darkness. The only light down in what appeared to be a series of caves and wide tunnels was coming from the open 'termite hills'. In some areas it was as light as it was outside, but in most it was difficult to see your own hand in front of your face. Bulma secured the rope a little more tightly, took a deep, shaky breath and pushed forward, following the patches and splotches of blood she occasionally was able to see.  
  
"Krillen?" she called out nervously, breaking the silence. She thought that she heard some small, scurrying sounds, but she couldn't be sure. It could have easily been nerves.  
  
She had been creeping along for about two hundred more feet when she spotted a peculiarly large pool of blood. Fearing the worst, she moved closer.   
  
"Krillen-- is that you?" As she got closer, she could make out one of his boots. She let out a grateful sigh. "Are you alright? It looks like you've lost a lot of blood..." When she stepped into the light, however, she realized that inquiries were quite pointless. There was no point in speaking to Krillen's severed foot, especially when there wasn't a body attached. "Oh Kami..." She nearly vomited on the spot, but thankfully was able to hold the meager rations in her empty stomach down.   
  
With a shaking hand, she went to pull on her rope to signal the others to help her back out of the hole, but upon attempting this discovered that her rope had been cut somewhere along the way. She looked down and saw the end of the rope dragging behind her, useless.  
  
"Fuck," she grumbled under her breath. "Leave it to Yamcha to pick out the weakest shit we have..."  
  
Suddenly something hurried across the floor of the cave and out of sight. Bulma started and scanned the immediate (visible) area with wild eyes. The image of Krillen's severed, bloody foot flashed in front of her eyes again, and Bulma began to fully realize her situation. Whatever had gotten Krillen was now down here-- alone, with her. She forgot all intentions of being quiet and staying out of sight, turned, and began running towards the way she had come, only to catch a glimpse of something scurrying across the floor over there, too. Breathing hard with anxiety and fear, Bulma stood still and frantically tried to come up with something to do. She knew nothing about these creatures-- only Vejita did --and if Krillen, a grown man much stronger than her, hadn't been able to escape, what made her think that SHE had a chance? The fact was, she didn't have a snowball's chance in hell.  
  
Thinking fast, she looked towards one of the patches of sunlight and moved quickly. If so much light could get through, then why couldn't she? After making a hasty decision between some of the closer 'termite hills' that provided light, Bulma chose one, spit on her hands, and made an attempt to climb up into it. As she struggled her way up into the thing and towards the light, the sounds of moving down in the cave got louder, and she could make out eerie sounds that could only be the creatures' means of communication. Her cramping muscles were filled with renewed motivation, but it wasn't enough. She lodged herself in the 'termite hill' and fought off tears of hopelessness and frustration. She would not, would NOT, allow herself to die in here like this.  
  
"Hello!" she screamed. Somebody had to hear her. "Somebody get over here and fucking HELP ME!"  
  
Nothing. And it sounded like the creatures were getting closer.  
  
"Guys! I'm over here! Please help me!" her voice cracked as she grew closer to tears, and Bulma hated herself for it. "Hello?"  
  
The sounds of rushing footsteps had never been so sweet to Bulma's ears before. She managed a smile and squinted up into the sunlight. She was able to make out the faces of Goku, Chichi, Gohan, Marron, Yamcha, and Vejita, surprisingly.   
  
"Well, it took you long enough!" Bulma called up. "Hurry up and help me out of here! There's something down th--"   
  
Suddenly the dangling end of the rope tied around her waist was given a violent tug. Bulma, unprepared for such a sudden attack, lost her balance and began to slide back down into the cave, where she could now make out the shapes of hundreds of small, brown creatures with menacing teeth and small, beady eyes. "Holy shit!"   
  
Just as she getting out of reach, a strong hand gripped her forearm and helped her out of the 'termite hill' and the creatures' grasp. The rope snapped, and the hundreds of aliens below stampeded each other to reach the tasteless treat. Bulma shuddered at the sound of their eerie communication and snapping teeth. She was even more startled, however, to find that it had been none other than Vejita that had pulled her out the hole and not Yamcha. She hurried to her feet and avoided Vejita's strange eyes, which was way harder than it sounded.  
  
"Thank you," she said awkwardly. "I suppose this means that I owe you now. What a pleasant feeling."  
  
"I'm sure it is," Vejita acknowledged indifferently. "Believe me, I won't forget it."  
  
Something about his tone of voice made Bulma look up, but before she knew it it was gone. "Um, guys, I think that we have bigger problems than a lack of supplies..."  
  
Marron jumped at Bulma, her face soaked with tears. "Where's Krillen?" she demanded desperately. "Did you find him?!"  
  
Bulma felt as if her heart were breaking. "I'm so sorry, Marron." She briefly contemplated telling the girl exactly how she had come across Krillen, but then decided against it. "They got to him first." She looked away and resisted the urge to cover her ears as the girl collapsed and began making animal-like sounds of intense sorrow. For the sake of being polite, she motioned for the others to follow her and leave Marron alone.   
  
"What did you see?" Gohan asked eagerly. "What did the aliens look like?"  
  
"Gohan!" Chichi scolded. "You shouldn't ask foolish questions at a time like this!"  
  
"Indeed," Vejita put in. "Shut your brat up!"  
  
Even the bold, mouthy Chichi wasn't ballsy enough to contradict the infamous Vejita. She had heard too many stories and seen too many grisly news reports to do such a thing. She instead pulled her son to her and covered his mouth with a dirty hand. "Hush, Gohan-chan..."  
  
"I found Krillen, all right," Bulma began bitterly. "And believe me, it was not pretty."  
  
Yamcha shuddered. "I'm in the same boat as the kid-- what did they look like?"  
  
"They were a light shade of brown, I believe," Bulma said uncertainly. "It was dark, and the little bastards move fast. Their teeth make up for their small size though, trust me. But what I don't understand is why they didn't just follow me out of the caves."  
  
Vejita chuckled. "You haven't figured it out yet? I've pointed this out before." At the collective silence, he shook his head. "Lets just say that I'm going to make more friends in a few minutes than I have in my entire life." His eyes flashed ominously, and suddenly Bulma realized what he meant.  
  
"They don't like the light," she said slowly, thinking.  
  
Yamcha shrugged. "Isn't that a good thing? Why would we need Vejita's help if they're just gonna stay down there in their little caves?"  
  
Bulma shook her head, and Vejita waited for her to speak. "There's something important about this... I can't remember..." she trailed off, her eyes clouded over in thought. "Oh Kami... oh shit... the eclipse!"  
  
Yamcha's expression changed in understanding. "For how long? And how long do we have?"  
  
Bulma ignored his questions and turned towards the two suns. If she was seeing correctly, then seemed to have moved quite a bit since she'd last checked them, more towards the horizon...  
  
"In a matter of hours," she whispered. "The darkness lasted for many turns of the mobile... for more than a week."  
..........................................................................................  
They walked back to the ship in a state of silence, all battling with their own private demons. Marron trailed considerably behind, her blue eyes overflowing with tears for her lost boyfriend. Chichi had gone to check on her several times, but the girl was beyond help. All were secretly wondering, except for Vejita of course, if they were next.  
  
"This isn't going to be pretty, you know." Bulma turned to acknowledge Yamcha. "At the first given opportunity, that son of a bitch is going to take the ship and leave us all here to die. Especially now that we've had our first encounter with those... things."  
  
Bulma shook her head in disgust. "I can't believe you, Yamcha. Can't you just lay off it for a little while? I'm sick of your damned suspicions and accusations!" She walked faster to shake him off her tail, but it didn't work. He jogged up beside her, his jaw set in a stubborn line. Bulma could feel all eyes on them. She was grateful that Vejita was out of earshot.  
  
"Listen to me!" Yamcha demanded, getting angry. "Those guys--" he motioned to the passengers, who were all looking their worst at the moment. "they don't have a chance. They're going to drag us down. I know that we have a responsibility to keep them safe, but let's face it. When it comes down to it, our lives are first and foremost in our minds. There's no denying it."  
  
"Where is this going?" Bulma snapped. She looked as angry as she had ever been.   
  
"I'm just saying that if one of those things comes after us..." he shrugged and lifted his eyebrows suggestively. "At least we know that we have some live bait."  
  
Instead of stopping in her tracks with shock, as she might have before she had seen Yamcha getting friendly with their morphine supply, Bulma merely rolled her eyes, gritted her teeth, and ran for the ship.  
  
"Don't you forget that!" Yamcha called after her. "Don't you dare!"  
  
The bad part was that Bulma knew he was right.  
..........................................................................................  
"Come on, come on," Bulma growled at the array of flashing buttons in front of her and tried to make sense of the whole thing. She knew that was lucky to even get what little of the controls working that she had, especially considering the mangled condition of the ship, but it just wasn't enough. "I will NOT be crammed into that damned capsule ship..."  
  
"That can be arranged," spoke a deep voice behind her. She didn't even have to turn around to know that it was Vejita. She heard the door of the control room shut and lock behind him. "I'm very... talented ...when it comes to that kind of thing."  
  
Bulma chose not to indulge him with a comeback of her own. "I'm not going to play your little games right now," she announced bravely. "If you really want to get off this rock then I suggest that you leave me alone to finish my work."  
  
Vejita chuckled. "You know as well as I do that this piece of shit will never get off the ground."  
  
"I think not," Bulma protested, her movements quick and jerky. "Besides, we have no choice. Even with Krillen gone, there isn't enough room for all of us on that little ship."  
  
"I can fix that problem, too." He was getting closer now.  
  
"I don't need your... assistance." The 'ERROR' button flashed red again. Bulma slammed a fist onto the machine and gritted her teeth in frustration. "Just leave me alone, please."  
  
"Not before I get what I want."  
  
Bulma stopped her ministrations and turned around in her chair. She met Vejita's doctored eyes with her own pale ones and frowned. "And what would that be?"  
  
The convict approached her arrogantly and didn't stop until he was directly in front of her, close enough so that Bulma could hear him breathing. She turned back around and fixed her eyes unmovingly forward. She was tense as hell but she would be damned before she let Vejita see it. She would have been able to maintain this illusion, if Vejita hadn't suddenly decided to place a hand on each arm of the chair, trapping her. She could make out the hard lines of his muscled arms in her periphal vision.  
  
"What do you think?"  
  
Bulma swallowed nervously. "It would be impossible to even guess."  
  
Vejita smirked. "Answers. I want answers." When she did not immediately respond, his smirk broadened. He reminded her of a shark. "What was it that were you thinking? Sex?"  
  
"Stop trying to jerk me around!"  
  
"You are a naughty girl," Vejita scolded mockingly. He was so close now that Bulma could feel his hot breath on her neck and face. "Tell me-- is Yamcha going to make a pathetic attempt to do me in anytime soon? I'm getting sick of waiting."  
  
Bulma's throat tightened. She wondered how mcuh Vejita had been able to figure out about all the them, what dirty little secrets he could uncover just by looking into their eyes. "I- I couldn't tell you."  
  
"He's under the impression that I have intentions to take the ship for myself and leave you all here to die, is he not? Well, he was wrong." He seized a strand of Bulma's hair and examined it carefully. "Why would I leave such a cute little thing like you behind so that the bastard could have you all to himself, hmm?"  
  
"Fuck you," Bulma replied, jerking her head away so that the strand of hair slipped out from his fingers.   
  
"I'm up to it if you are." Before Bulma could reply, he layed an unexpected kiss on her neck and moved away. He was almost to the door when he turned back around and fixed his gaze on her back. "I wouldn't fry too many brain cells trying to fix this piece of shit if I were you. Its hopeless."  
  
Bulma waited until he had left the room until she slumped down into her chair, mentally exhausted. Being around Vejita was like riding an emotional roller-coaster. For a few seconds there, while they had been so close, a part of her had even been WANTING him to kiss her. But that was ridiculous... right?  
  
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(A/N): I'm sorry about the slow update on this fic. I've been concentrating really hard on getting "Broken Home" done, since I've got the whole outline and basically every chapter figured out quite well now. I'm only expecting a few more chapters on that fic, but anyway... I've been reading more fics than writing recently, also-- check out Psycho Pixie's fic "The Real Thing"... she posted it a while ago and I've read it before but for some reason I went back and read it again and its fabulous! Go check it out if you can find the time... its a long one! Its one of the best B/V's I've read in a long time, though. And oh yes, its been confirmed that there WILL be a few sequels to "Pitch Black" (the movie, that is), so perhaps when that happens I might be posting a sequel or two to this fic, also! Besides that, I have nothing else to say, so ja ne for now! And oh yes (^_______^) please remember to REVIEW!  
  
Rhapsody~*  
HawaiianBabay@aol.com  
AIM Hawaiian Babay  
  
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	7. Disappearances

P I T C H B L A C K.............................  
............................................................a fic by Rhapsody~*  
  
.................................................................................................... 7: Disappointments  
Vejita had strategically placed himself sitting on one of the broken wings of the ship, where he could watch Goku and his annoying family talk with Yamcha, who was bragging shamelessly about his pathetic accomplishments, cheated awards, and such, and also so that he could see Marron, minus arm-candy Krillen now, sulk and moan nearby. It appeared that the only thing keeping her from bursting into tears was Yamcha's ridiculous little show. The girl had horrible taste.  
  
"And if you think Bulma's father is smart, you should check out the works of my great-grandfather, who invented--"  
  
"Let me guess-- torture?" Vejita cut off Yamcha in mid-sentence, unable to take any more. "The only accomplishment you can claim for that man is the fact that he chose to die before you became world-reknown. He would fucking roll over in his grave if he knew what has resulted from his genes."  
  
"Well, I don't recall YOU having anything to brag about!" Yamcha pointed out indignantly.   
  
"I have numerous things." Vejita smirked at the nauseous looks on the passengers' faces. "Care to hear about some of them? I have MANY stories. They're quite entertaining, really..."  
  
"You are a horrible man," Chichi informed him needlessly, wrapping an arm around Gohan's shoulders.   
  
"Speaking of horrible," Goku started, ever the peacemaker. Vejita shot him a dirty look-- fighting was the only thing to do around here. "Get a load of our situation, guys! We've got to do something, and fast, before that eclipse comes around."  
  
"Yeah," Marron whined loudly. "Where's Bulma when you need her?"  
  
Yamcha crossed his arms, perfectly willing to join in the collective complaining. "I don't know. Last I saw her she was fooling around with something in the control room. A lot of good THAT'LL do..." He kicked a piece of twisted debris by his foot and scowled. "The only way we're getting off this planet is if we can get some energy cells for that capsule ship."  
  
Vejita briefly considered informing them exactly how many of them had to be left behind to accomplish that, but then decided against it. It would be far more entertaining if Bulma did it-- the reaction would no doubt be priceless. The hardest part of that reality was deciding who was going to stay behind. In Vejita's opinion, the passengers were more or less equally annoying. Except for Yamcha-- he would be happy to leave him here to rot, or to finish the bastard off himself. The door to the ship slammed open, and Bulma stepped out into the harsh sunlight. Her pale blue eyes moved over to him before settling on the rest of the passengers, and Vejita was once again reminded of Earth's clear sky. Perhaps Bulma was one to keep around... Perhaps...  
  
"So?" Yamcha demanded. "What did our charming scientist discover today?"  
  
Bulma hooked a thumb in her pants and brushed some hair out of her eyes. Her hair was tied up at the top of her head, and she had a smear of engine oil on one cheek. "Well, there's good news and bad news." The passengers hung on her every word at this point. "The good news is that there is hope for us yet-- we can definitely get off this planet. But the bad news..."  
  
"What is it?!" Gohan asked excitedly.  
  
"We're not going to get off this planet with this ship-- we couldn't even get three damned feet off the ground. We're going to have to take the capsule ship."  
  
While Yamcha and Vejita realized why this bit of news was bad, the others apparently did not.  
  
"Well, what's so bad about that?" Goku asked cheerfully. "There's hope! All we have to do is pop open the capsule and leave!"  
  
Bulma shook her head. "It won't be so simple. The ship's maximum weight capacity is four people, and we have three extra."  
  
Silence as the reality of their situation sank in.   
  
"And another thing-- we have to dig our extra energy cells out of this mess and get them into the capsule ship before we can leave. The capsule ship will require at least four of those things."   
  
Yamcha shrugged. "That isn't so bad. It will take us an hour, tops."  
  
Bulma shook her head and pointed to the horizon. "Look."  
  
All seven faces fell at the sight of the two suns slowly but steadily sinking towards the horizon. The motion had become so rapid, their human eyes could almost make out the movement of each sun. Marron started sobbing again, Gohan buried his face in his mother's dusty shirt, and Goku blinked as if he weren't seeing correctly. Yamcha crossed his arms and glared at Bulma as if it were all her fault.  
  
"Then what are we standing around waiting for?" he demanded. "Let's get this show on the road."  
  
Everyone but Bulma and Vejita moved towards the ship, then stopped when Bulma held up a shaky hand. "I don't think we've solved this issue yet, guys."  
  
"Bullshit," Yamcha protested. "Gohan only counts as half a person, and everyone knows that one or two people over capacity has no effect. Its been scientifically proven-- doing so is just frowned upon. Its not like we have a choice anyway."  
  
"You're wrong," Bulma informed him gravely, her eyes hard with determination. "Its safe for easy missions, like traveling through open space and such, but in this planet's atmosphere, we would all be killed. Even our original ship, which was carrying much LESS than capacity, could hardly withstand the pressure."  
  
"Oh Kami!" Marron exclaimed, near hysterics. "Its all or nothing! This is a disaster!"  
  
"Don't start panicking now!" Bulma snapped. The high-pitched whining of that girl was starting to bring on a migraine. "The real trouble hasn't even started yet, which is why we should start finding those energy cells now, while there's still some daylight."  
  
"Yes, master," Yamcha grumbled, crossing his arms. When nobody made a move towards the wreckage, he uncrossed them and waved them along. "Go on, get to it!"  
  
"This is never going to work," Vejita pointed out needlessly, while the passengers were out of earshot. After getting a small taste of Marron's complaining, he had decided against commenting while everyone was in hearing distance. "That little piece of shit is never going to be able to get us all off the ground, and you know it."  
  
"You know what? You're right," Bulma started irritably. "How about we start lightening the load with you? Either you play along and help out, or find yourself another way home!"  
  
Vejita chuckled. "I don't think so. You are, after all, going to be requiring my assistance."  
  
Yamcha scoffed. "Your assistance? I don't think so. I don't recall having to bump anyone off."  
  
Vejita blinked a few times, and his doctored eyes flashed.   
  
Bulma realized what he meant, and crossed her arms. "Why would we have to see in the dark? We're going to be off of this rock before the suns set, or at least very close to it."  
  
"Not at this rate." Vejita glanced over to where the passengers were standing around, staring at the ship with varying expressions of doubt. "Perhaps Captain America should go over there and motivate them with some more stories of heroism and bravery, hmm?"  
  
Yamcha shot him a nasty look, then turned and went to the passengers. Bulma watched quietly as the captain spoke to them, and they split up to start working. When she turned back round, she found Vejita staring at her oddly.   
  
"What?" she snapped. "Stop staring at me like that!"  
  
"Don't flatter yourself," Vejita replied. "I haven't seen a clean woman in quite a long time now."  
  
Bulma smirked and straddled a broken piece of the ship's wing so that she could face him. Vejita was mildly amused at her boldness in talking to him so casually, especially after their encounter in the ship's control room. "I'm surprised. Were you late for the interstate prison beauty pageant or something?"  
  
Vejita did not laugh. "You wouldn't find that comment so funny if you had been in my position."  
  
"I would never be in your position."  
  
"And what makes you so sure? Everyone has a little murderer in them. Its human nature."  
  
"I'm sure because I posess self-control." Bulma met his gaze and held it, her delicate features serious.  
  
"Are you accusing me of something?" Vejita raised an eyebrow.  
  
"You've been accused of it already," Bulma replied breezily, brushing some hair out of her face. "Many times, which is why you've been sent here to rot on this planet."  
  
"Incorrect," Vejita reminded her. "Have you forgotten our loyal captain's identity as neighborhood bounty hunter?"  
  
Bulma grimaced. "How could I forget?"  
  
Vejita crossed his arms and leaned back a bit. He was growing tired of light conversation. "Why the hell are you even over here?"  
  
"Um, maybe because I can't sprout wings and fly off this planet," Bulma said dryly. "What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean, why are you over here making conversation instead of over THERE working with the others?"  
  
Bulma paused for a moment, surprised at the question, then leaned forward, her expression grave. "I want to know why you came into the control room to fucking harass me! I'm not stupid-- I know that you don't do things just for the hell of it, so I want to know why."  
  
Vejita considered his answer-- the girl had a point. But the ironic thing was, this particular incident HAD been 'just for the hell of it'. Somehow he didn't think that she would go for that. "Call it... a hunch."  
  
"A hunch," Bulma stated flatly. Vejita thought that he saw bit of disappointment in her eyes. No doubt she was expecting a different answer. "Care to elaborate on that one?"  
  
Vejita smirked. "I'm of the opinion that me and you have more than a little chemistry going on. How about you?"  
  
Bulma blinked, clearly shocked by this uncharacteristic answer. "No," she claimed, avoiding his eyes. "I don't." She got up off her perch on the wing and released her hair from her ponytail, as she did whenever she was putting thought into something, and glanced fleetingly over at Vejita before retreating over to where the rest of the passengers were trying to pull an energy cell out of the rubble. Vejita watched, still smirking, as she rolled up her beater a bit, trying to cool herself off, and helped Yamcha and Goku in their attempts to free the cell from the wreckage. Vejita noticed her lean yet sculpted muscles with a little surprise. Who would have guessed?  
  
Before he had a chance to follow through with that line of thought, Yamcha approached him. Judging by his angry frown, he was not craving friendly conversation. Vejita offered an arrogant half-smile-- he was up for a good fight, verbally or physically.  
  
"Didn't you understand me the first time?" the other man demanded. "Stay--the--fuck--away--from-- her!"  
  
Vejita rolled his eyes, a bit disappointed. "Is our flawless leader... jealous?"  
  
Yamcha began twitching without the help of his morphine. "No! I'm just ensuring the safety of my co-pilot, is all. And you are anything but safe. I know what you're trying to do-- win her over so that you can save a seat on the ship and get some while you're at it. But its not going to work this time, not while I'm still breathing!"  
  
"Listen," Vejita started mockingly. "Neither you nor I can help who the woman likes. So what?-- she goes for the psychopathic serial killer instead of you. Its nothing to endanger your life over."  
  
"Endanger my LIFE over?" Yamcha repeated incredulously. "You've got to be kidding me."  
  
Vejita pulled out his knife, bent to pick up a rock, and began sharpening the edges casually. "Do I look like I'm 'kidding' you?"  
  
The veins in Yamcha's forehead looked about to burst, and he was getting increasingly red in the face as Vejita continued scratching away at the rock, watching him with his menacing eyes. "This isn't over, you-- you crazy son of a bitch!"   
  
Vejita watched as the captain turned and retreated off into the distance, disappearing over one of the sand dunes in the horizon. Bulma noticed his absence and hurried over, shielding her eyes against the sun.  
  
"Where the hell does he think he's going?" she demanded.  
  
Vejita smirked, then put his knife back away. "Beats me."  
About an hour later, while the passengers and Bulma were struggling to pull their third energy cell out of the wreckage, Yamcha came sprinting back over the horizon, waving his arms and yelling something excitedly.  
  
Eager for a break from their hard labor, the passengers, save Bulma and Vejita, ran to meet him. Bulma reluctantly set down her side of the energy cell and began jogging over, rolling down her shirt as she went. Vejita, who had been dozing casually in the setting sun, sighed and followed. Perhaps the bastard had found something slightly entertaining.  
  
"What?" the passengers were asking. "What is it?"  
  
Yamcha bent over, struggling to catch his breath, then spoke. The others strained to understand what he was saying through his panting. "I--found--a... a..." He seemed unable to think of a the word.  
  
"A what?" Bulma demanded eagerly. When Yamcha shook his head, she sighed. "Take us to it."  
  
Yamcha led them to the same small, deserted settlement where Bulma had discovered the secret of the eclipse, except this time he led them beyond the small buildings and over a sand dune that had been hiding his discovery, and several others.  
  
"Yay!" Gohan exclaimed, running over to Yamcha's discovery. "What is it?"  
  
Bulma laughed, then followed Gohan and examined the thing up close. "Its a Sandcat-- this is perfect!"  
  
Yamcha looked rather proud of himself. "This will make moving the energy cells around much easier. So, Vejita, what do you think?"  
  
Vejita moved over to the Sandcat, climbed up to its controls, brushed the dust off, and scowled. "Its a broken piece of shit. You'd be lucky to get it running from here to the other settlement."  
  
Bulma jumped up onto the large machine beside Vejita, which caused Yamcha to frown deeply. She looked over the controls also, and sighed with disappointment. "He's right, Yamcha. There's so much dust and erosion that we'd be lucky to move ten feet, let alone all the way to the other settlement." She climbed back down and moved to speak to the others, who were gathered a short distance away.  
  
"This isn't so bad, you guys," Goku was saying. "We have three big guys here, that should be enough to carry those things."  
  
Vejita moved over to stand beside Bulma, who didn't react, even when the others shot him wary looks and inched away. "Three? Make that one. I'm the only one here who could carry one of those things. It took the whole lot of to haul away one, remember?"  
  
Bulma interuppted before Yamcha could get another fight started. "Where's Gohan?"  
  
The others looked around, realizing his absence for the first time, and Chichi began hyperventilating. "Oh my Kami! Those monsters have gotten my baby!"  
  
Vejita rolled his eyes as they began to look around frantically, failing to notice even the most obvious of clues. "Don't be retarded-- follow the brat's footsteps."  
  
All eyes followed the small prints in the sand right to the door of a medium-sized building labeled 'Coring Room'. The doors swung open and shut omniously in the breeze, as if trying to hide what atrocities no doubt layed inside.  
  
"Don't you dare make me go in alone again," Bulma muttered quietly, her blue eyes taking in the abadoned building with doubt.   
  
"How bad could it be?" Goku asked, taking a confident step towards the building. "My son is in there!"  
  
Vejita cleared his throat, stopping Goku in his tracks. His dark eyes analyzed the building. "I wouldn't suggest sending anyone in there. That is, unless that person has a death wish. Listen."  
  
The passengers quieted, then listened in horror and disbelief as the exact sounds that Bulma's aliens had made were emitted from the same building in which Gohan and disappeared.  
  
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(A/N): Hello again, everyone! I'm really, REALLY sorry about the long delay in posting this chapter. I was just really trying to complete 'Broken Home' while the ideas were still fresh in my mind. If you care to, please go and take a look! From here on out, updates will be a LOT faster (you have my word on that!) because this is the only fic that I have to work on. Plan on some more B/V coming up soon, though it might not be quite what everyone expecting... *Evil smile*.... But anyway, I really appreciate all of you guys' wonderful reviews on this fic! I never thought that there would be so much interest in a story that I would have never seen myself writing! Sci-fi is not my thing, but you guys are making it happen. Thanks a bunch, and please remember to REVIEW!  
  
Rhapsody~*  
HawaiianBabay@aol.com  
AOL Instant Messanger: Hawaiian Babay  
  
_________________________________________________________________________________________ 


	8. Tragedies

P I T C H B L A C K.............................  
............................................................a fic by Rhapsody~*  
  
.................................................................................................... 8: Tragedies  
Bulma could hardly believe this. Here she was, taking the entire group of passengers into the Coring Room building, needlessly risking not only her life, but the lives of the same people she was supposed to be responsible for. She shot a dirty look at Yamcha's back as he led them towards the Coring Room with an air of false confidence. This was all his fault. Rather than risk his own life, as was his responsibility as the ship's captain, he had chosen to make it all-or-nothing and take everyone along, so that 'they could search a larger area in a shorter amount of time'. Bullshit. She was also painfully aware of Vejita's presence at the back of the group. He had said nothing while Yamcha proposed this idea, which was mildly surprising. Bulma, however, was growing accustomed to surprises.  
  
"Oh Kami, oh Kami, let my little boy be okay..." Chichi sobbed as Goku helped her towards the building that held their son. "Please..."  
  
Bulma's heart jumped into her throat in anticipation. Were they going to find little Gohan smeared all over the walls of the Coring Room? When somebody tapped her on the shoulder, she nearly jumped out of her skin.   
  
"A bit jumpy, are we?" Vejita didn't sound scared in the least, but then again, she hadn't expected him to be. "Perhaps you and I should stay outside and keep an eye on those suns, hm?"  
  
Why this psychopath kept on bringing up opprotunities to be alone with her would never cease to baffle Bulma, whose own feelings towards the man where mixed at best. "That is not likely to happen," she replied. "I plan to march right on in there with the rest of them."  
  
"Well!" Vejita held up his hands in mock surrender. "I stand corrected. But remember..." Bulma squeezed her eyes shut as he moved dangerously close-- close enough so that she could feel his breath on the back of her neck. "The offer remains open." He flashed her a dark, sexy (!) smirk and moved away from the group to lean against a nearby building.   
  
Bulma took a deep breath, regained her composure, and moved forward to walk beside Yamcha. He noticed both her flushed cheeks and Vejita's absence, and frowned disapprovingly.   
  
"Why do you put up with him like that?" he hissed. "You sit there and say nothing, therefore encouraging him to keep on bothering you!"  
  
"What I say or do is none of your business," Bulma informed him shortly. "And it never will be, so stop acting so jealous all of the time. And the only reason I put up with him is because he has a body count of near to twenty-five people and counting!"  
  
"An impressive record," Yamcha allowed sarcastically. "But I've heard of better."  
  
Bulma stopped in her tracks when she found herself standing just outside the Coring Room. The eerie alien noises had stopped, as if they had sensed them coming. Goku, Chichi, and Marron looked up to Yamcha and Bulma expectantly, awaiting their instructions. Vejita remained a short distance away, staring carelessly off into the distance. Yamcha cleared his throat.  
  
"Okay," he began. "We're going to have to split up into two groups-- me and Bulma in one group, and the rest of you in the other. If you see one of those alien things, turn and run unless you want to be eaten alive. Other than that..." He looked to Bulma, who said nothing. "I think that you can handle it."  
  
Bulma heard Yamcha take a deep breath, then stepped back as he hauled open the doors of the Coring Room.  
There was nothing immediately visible at first-- just a bunch of dust and darkness. The aliens that they all knew were inside had fallen silent again, which may have a been a good or a bad thing. It was impossible to tell. Bulma desperately hoped that they were scared of them and the light that filtered in through the open doors. Gohan was nowhere to be seen, though some faint footprints were.  
  
"Look," Goku pointed out, kneeling in front of the footprints. "He was going this way, then it looks like he turned abruptly and ran..." He stood and followed the trail with his eyes. "Into there."  
  
The doors that Goku were looking at looked as if they had been rusted shut many years ago. Yamcha forgot all about his idea of splitting up and beckoned for everyone to follow him to the doors, which had once been labeled but now were far too faded to make any sense of.   
  
"Well," he said a bit uncertainly. "Here goes."  
  
The doors gave way rather easily-- so easily, in fact, that Yamcha almost fell straight through and into the dark room behind them. Bulma followed him inside and waited for her eyes to adjust to the dim lighting. She could hear Goku, Chichi, and Marron filter in behind them. When her eyes focused, she found herself standing the middle of a large room with a strange-looking machine in the middle. Much of it had eroded and fallen apart, so it was not immediately significant to her. She bravely moved past Yamcha to explore the room further, searching for any signs of Gohan. The room had no other doors, and there had only been one set of footprints, so the child had no other place that he could have possibly gone.   
  
"Gohan!" Chichi called frantically. Her voice echoed off of the walls hollowly. "Gohan, where are you?"  
  
"Man, the kid had a broken leg, too," Yamcha pointed out thoughtlessly. "He must have had no chance."  
  
"No CHANCE?!" Chichi demanded. "What do you mean, 'no chance'? I don't see any of those aliens around here, do YOU?!"  
  
Yamcha opened his mouth to reply, but was interuppted by the deafening sound of thousands of what Bulma could only assume were the creatures that had chased her out of that hole. She ducked just in time to avoid an entire flock of small brown creatures with wings and fangs that were stained orange with old blood. Whose blood it was, Bulma did not care to know. Chichi and Marron screamed from behind her. Bulma squeezed her eyes shut, curled into a ball, and prayed that she were anywhere but there in that horrible Coring Room.  
  
She was brought back to her sense by a hand on her back. Yamcha.  
  
"They're gone, the evil little bastards," Yamcha announced.  
  
"Where did they come from?" Bulma asked breathlessly, getting to her feet and looking around.  
  
"And more importantly, where are they now?" Marron pointed out. It was one of the first times Bulma had heard her speak since Krillen's grisly murder.  
  
Yamcha looked over the eroded machine. "I'm guessing from somewhere inside that thing. It looks like parts of it are hollow. And they flew over there."  
  
The passengers followed his finger over to a hole in the ground that they hadn't noticed before. It looked eerily similar to the one Bulma had recently climbed into. Unfortuantely, they didn't have much time to dwell on this new breed of alien.  
  
"EXCUSE me!" Chichi called. "I think that we're forgetting something. My baby Gohan is still missing!"  
  
"Right." Bulma moved over to Chichi and offered a half-hearted smile of assurance. "We'll find him, don't worry."  
  
Chichi's frustrated black eyes glared back at her. "Yeah, just like you were going to fix our ship, right?"  
  
Bulma stepped back, stung. Rather than risk getting into a fight with the stubborn woman, she shook her head and started heading out of the room. She didn't, however, get very far. What she saw near the doors was enough to stop her dead in her tracks.   
  
"Yamcha," she called emotionlessly. "Come... come over here."  
  
The others hurried over. Goku caught Chichi as she let loose a high-pitched, animal-like cry of anguish and began to sink to the ground. Marron screamed and turned away, and Yamcha stepped back, blinking as if he couldn't believe his eyes.  
  
They had found Gohan.  
Bulma left the others to their disbelief and got the hell out of the Coring Room, eager for fresh air. When she burst free of the sinister building, she collapsed down into the sand and put all her energy into burning the image of Gohan's ravaged, mangled corpse out of her memory forever. She was so absorbed, however, that she didn't notice Vejita come to stand over her, scowling.  
  
"The brat is dead, I'm guessing."  
  
Bulma lifted her head and looked up at Vejita emotionlessly. "You're GUESSING? If you don't believe it, go in there and take a good look. It was horrible..." She shuddered and lifted herself up onto her knees, brushing some hair out of her face and suppressing the urge to vomit.  
  
Vejita sighed and crossed his arms. "What did he look like?"  
  
"What's it to you?" Bulma demanded. She could hardly believe what this insensitive man was asking her.  
  
"I want to know so that I can compare the aliens' work to my own," Vejita snarled back sarcastically, obviously annoyed with her question. "I'm always trying to improve myself, you know."  
  
"Fuck you," Bulma said disgustedly, moving to get onto her feet.  
  
Vejita seized her in an instant. He lifted her off her feet by the front of her tank top, his ruggedly handsome face twisted into an expression of fury. "Tell me! I would like to get in on what we're up against, don't you fucking understand?!"  
  
Bulma held his smoldering gaze, her lips set into a thin, hard line of determination. "No."  
  
Vejita looked as if he were battling himself for a few moments, then he growled and dropped her back onto the sand, moving a short distance away. Bulma thought herself quite lucky-- it looked like it was taking all Vejita had to control his deadly temper. She took it as a strange, unusual sort of compliment.  
  
"He was leaning up against the doors." Bulma's voice was quiet and meek as she began describing the horrible scene. She remained on her knees in the sand, as Vejita had deposited her. "There was blood everywhere but in his poor little body. He was barely recognizable, he was so torn apart. I've never seen anything like it. And his face..." She whimpered and felt hot tears rise to her eyes and threaten to spill over. "Oh my Kami, his face-- it was twisted into this expression of FEAR. I will never, for as long as I live, forget his face." She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head as tears spilled down her cheeks. She hated herself for crying in front of Vejita, of all people. She shuddered as the haunting image brought itself to her attention again. "And Chichi and Goku... They went to him, but there was hardly anything left to hold..."  
  
"Death isn't always cherrywood coffins and pretty flower arrangements, you know," Vejita commented monotonously, watching Bulma with stormy eyes.   
  
"How does that compare to your work?" Bulma spat, gritting her teeth and glaring up at Vejita with all her might. "Are you SATISFIED now?"  
  
Vejita frowned. "Even I wouldn't mutilate a fucking child. I prefer a challenge."  
  
Bulma nodded and looked away, wiping the tears off her dirty cheeks. "A challenge..." Her head spun as the realization of his words sank in. Blue eyes widened as she experienced revelation. She saw herself turning away from him in the control room, avoiding his advances, making comebacks and sarcastic responses to his questions and comments... "A challenge..."  
  
"What are you whispering about, woman?" Vejita taunted. "Don't let the sight of one body fuck you up-- there's plenty more where that came from."  
  
Bulma lifted her wide, frightened eyes to the sky, carefully noting the position of the suns. They were dipping dangerously low in the sky. "Three hours."  
  
"What?"   
  
"Three hours," Bulma repeated, louder so that Vejita could make out her words. "Three hours until the eclipse."  
  
"Bulma!" Yamcha shouted as he stormed out of the Coring Room, his clothing and hands soiled with Gohan's fresh blood. "A little bit of HELP in here, please?!" When he noticed Vejita (Bulma wondered how he couldn't notice him) he shrugged and a waved a bloody hand in his direction. "You, too. I'm sure that you're very experienced with this kind of thing."  
  
Bulma watched him hurry back into the Coring Room, then got to her feet slowly. She was dreading every step she took towards that awful room. Vejita pushed past her impatiently.   
  
"What's your hurry?" she called after him. "I would have guessed that you would want nothing to do with this."  
  
Vejita only favored her with a frustrated glance over one muscled shoulder. "I'll have something to do with whatever gets us off this shitty planet faster."  
  
"Us?" Bulma questioned. "I suppose that means that you've decided to keep at least me around then."  
  
"Of course," Vejita assured her dryly. "I'm going to require a little entertainment, naturally."  
  
Bulma rolled her eyes, sorry that she'd asked. Vejita did not hesitate for a second before throwing open the doors of the Coring Room. He strided right through the doorway and into the other room, and from Bulma's point of view, didn't so much as grimace upon the sight of Gohan's mangled body. Goku and Chichi could be seen across the room, being consolated unsuccessfully by Marron, who, just hours earlier, had been in need of consolation herself. Bulma's eyes lingered on the sad sight for a few more moments before she focused her attention back onto the task before her. Vejita was taking a good look at the gory scene, with Yamcha standing nearby, looking ready to both vomit and then strangle Vejita.  
  
"How did you get the blood on your hands?" Bulma asked, daring to step a little bit closer to the corpse. "He doesn't look like he's been moved."  
  
"He's been moved a good three feet," Yamcha pointed out, nodding towards the smears of blood on the wall. "You wouldn't notice it-- you were only here long enough to catch a glimpse and run away." His brown eyes sought hers.  
  
"I am not ashamed." Bulma turned away from him and back to Gohan. The sight of his fearful, barely recognizable face caused her to gasp. "Holy shit..."  
  
Vejita, who had been staring at the same thing himself, scowled. "I don't see why its necessary to move the damned thing. Its fine right where it is. Were you expecting company or something?"  
  
Yamcha glared. "That 'thing' that you speak so indifferently of is THEIR son." He gestured towards where Chichi and Goku had retreated. "We have to bury the little guy."  
  
Bulma had to agree with Vejita, for once, and hated herself for it. "Yamcha... I hate to say it, but he's right. I'm estimating that we have three hours left before the suns go down, and we need every minute of that time. They'll understand."  
  
"You agree with him, huh?" Yamcha smiled oddly, almost manically, and ripped off a section of his shirt to wipe his hands on. When he spoke again, it was clearly directed at Bulma, who narrowed her blue eyes back at him. "That's fine-- but when that psychopath goes after you, don't come bitching and moaning to me! I'm going to remember this, mark my words." He finished cleaning his hands and tossed the piece of soiled shirt at the child's corpse. He then stormed out of the room, not staying long enough to notice that the cloth had landed directly on the corpse's head.  
  
Bulma stared at the blood-stained piece of fabric numbly, her eyes twinkling with sorrow. "This is unbelieveable," she breathed softly.  
  
Vejita growled, then moved towards the body and began gingerly moving it. "Fuck this. We're as good as dead already." It was the most compassion that Bulma had ever seen him display.  
  
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(A/N): See, what did I tell you? I actually UPDATED. I'm on FIRE, babay! Two chapters in two days... its like, a record or something! I'd like to give a special shout-out to Shateera S-- thanks so much for your renewed support! You're completely forgiven. Umm, I don't think that I have much else to say besides, until the next chapter, and please remember to drop me a REVIEW!!  
  
Rhapsody~*  
HawaiianBabay@aol.com  
AOL Messanger: Hawaiian Babay  
  
_________________________________________________________________________________________ 


	9. Plans

P I T C H B L A C K.............................  
............................................................a fic by Rhapsody~*  
  
.................................................................................................... 9: Plans  
After Yamcha and Vejita had buried Gohan, and Bulma had determined Yamcha's Sandcat to be undriveable, the decreasing group of passengers began trudging slowly back to the ship, their shoulders slumped with discouragement. All of them, that is, besides Vejita. He seemed to actually be in a better mood than before Gohan's untimely death. Bulma found herself, once again, having mixed feelings towards the convict.   
  
"Its hopeless," Bulma heard Chichi say bitterly to Goku. When he tried to hush her, she shook her head and began talking louder. "We're getting picked off one by one, and I'm sick of wondering who's next."  
  
"And what are you planning to do about it?" Yamcha asked. "Throw yourself into one of those holes and let the aliens devour you alive?"  
  
"By all means, have at it," Vejita grumbled. "We still have to get rid of two more people."  
  
"We don't HAVE to get rid of anybody!" Yamcha protested. "How many times do I have to tell you?!"  
  
"Yamcha, he's right," Bulma said. "There is no way that we're getting off the ground with all of that extra weight."  
  
"You have no idea what the hell you're talking about!" Yamcha accused, stopping to confront Bulma. "You aren't even a certified astronaut, for Kami's sake!" He was about to go on, but then remembered something. "Hold on a minute... You aren't authorized to be a co-pilot if you haven't gone through astronaut training... How the fuck did you land this job?"  
  
"The same way that you did," Bulma said, her voice low and dangerous. "You haven't completed your training, either. You wouldn't even BE an astronaut if you hadn't cheated your way through the exams. I'm sure that NASA would love to hear all about your little infatuation with morphine and hunting down America's Most Wanted in your spare time."  
  
"At least I went through PART of the training!" Yamcha exclaimed angrily. "You used your father's reputation to get here, and look at what good it did for us!"  
  
"This is in way, shape, or form MY fault!" Bulma shouted back, losing her composure. "I can fly any aircraft you can dish out ten times better than you can, mostly because my father and I INVENTED them! If it weren't for ME, you would be in PIECES right now, dammit! I could have saved myself and flown back home, at the expense of all YOUR lives!" She glared at them all, the veins in her forehead throbbing. She then smiled crazily and tightened her ponytail. "But NO-- here I am, risking my own life for all of... YOU!"  
  
Yamcha showed obvious surprise at her angered state. She had never lost control like this before. But he recovered quickly."And I thought that you were the compassionate one..." He smiled smugly, then began walking back towards the ship. "I bet that you've regretted doing that very thing ever since we crashed. The passengers are lucky to have me here, or else you just might take the ship and leave them here. Maybe it isn't Vejita that we have to worry about anymore."  
  
Bulma did not move as the others followed Yamcha, going out of their way to avoid her. Had she been in control of her emotions, she would have been ashamed of the angry tears that dampened her face, but she didn't care anymore. Since when had this become a character attack on HER? Yamcha had selfishly taken all of their precious morphine for himself, lied about his identity as a bounty hunter, and much more. He knew that he had been striking a soft spot, and yet he had continued to do so mercilessly. All she had done was pull a few strings and save all of their lives. The defeated girl turned away from them and attempted to clean up her face, for her own sake. She could not miss the sight of the planet's two suns dipping dangerously low in the sky. They were nearly touching the horizon now. She was hypnotized by the sight of them, and would have fallen over in her reverie if Vejita had rebalanced her just in time. He took one look at her glazed over blue eyes and shook her violently.  
  
"What?" Bulma mumbled. "What do you want now?"  
  
"I will not allow you to sit here and rot while that dumbass has control," Vejita informed her. "I just might exercise my skills on those fools if you aren't around to protect their asses."  
  
"You don't need me," Bulma said. "I might steal the ship or something."  
  
Vejita, seeing that she was becoming herself again, smirked, the wheels in his head turning. "That's not a bad idea."  
  
Bulma held his gaze, a bit confused. He was trying to convey something to her, perhaps suggest a course of action, but was he serious? She narrowed her eyes and pulled away from him stubbornly. "Stop trying to toy with me. I may be out of it, but I'm not stupid." She shook her head and began following the passengers' footsteps back to the ship without looking back.  
  
Vejita watched her leave, the smirk still plastered on his face.   
The trek back to the ship was longer than she had estimated it would be, and by the time she returned to the area, the suns had already gone a quarter below the horizon, casting the deserted planet in a dim, sunset-like lighting. Dusk. Bulma shuddered and began jogging towards the ship. They were not prepared for the eclipse yet-- if the sun were to set now, they would all die.  
  
She caught sight of the remaining passengers, minus Chichi, who sat silently a short distance away, still mourning the gruesome loss of her son, struggling to drag the energy cells away from the ship. They weren't having much success. Nobody looked up as she approached, probably because they were either too tired or too desperate to put up a fight anymore. Vejita was nowhere in sight. The realization startled her a bit-- Vejita was the only one who could see in the dark.  
  
Rather than offer her worthless help in dragging the energy cells around, Bulma set her attentions to preparing the capsule ship. She knew that in order to release it from its capsule, she would have to go a pretty considerable distance away from the ship, and that she would have to run in order to preserve time. The determined girl gripped the capsule tighter and began moving away. Once she was a distance away, over one of the sand dunes and then a hundred feet further, she pressed the small button on the capsule and tossed it. The usual red puff of smoke emitted from the spot, then faded away to reveal a small-ish ship, suitable for about three or four people, as Bulma had estimated before.  
  
She slid the capsule shell back into her pocket and approached the ship, checking it over for imperfections or dents that could affect the overall performance, and then, finding none, opened up the doors to step inside. The ramp came down slowly, stirring up a miniature sandstorm as it hit the ground. Bulma was relieved to find the inside in as good a shape as the outside, and stepped out a slightly more content woman. She closed the ramp behind her and dusted herself off, preparing to return to the other, wrecked ship.  
  
"Well, both you and the ship are still here-- that's a relief."  
  
Bulma rolled her eyes and turned to face Vejita, who lounged on the sand behind her, looking as if he didn't have a care in the world. "You can rest easy then." She started to walk away, but then Vejita stood and stepped in front of her, his arms crossed. "What do you want? I have things to do before the suns set!"  
  
Vejita's menacing eyes sought hers fruitlessly. Bulma's own baby blues were averted everywhere but on her oppresser. "I want to know what you plan to do about our little capacity problem."  
  
"Well, according to you, I hardly have anything to worry about since most of us will get bumped off before the ship is prepared to leave anyway."   
  
"No one can be certain of that."  
  
Bulma put her hands on her hips and met Vejita's eyes for the first time. Her glare was almost as intense as his was. "Then what do you want ME to do about it?! Confer with Yamcha, I'm sure that he would be much more willing to participate in that sort of thing." She shook her head and stepped around Vejita.   
  
"Look at that thing," Vejita commented. Bulma paused. "It would hardly be able to make it through the atmosphere with two people."  
  
Bulma knew this was true, having designed the ship. She knew that the trip off of the planet would not be an easy one, especially with the extra weight, but was pretty certain that it could be done. Her expertise in that area helped, of course. "You may be right, but with some creative flying I'm positive that it can be done."  
  
"You're positive?" Vejita turned and approached her, his eyebrows lifted in doubt.   
  
Bulma swallowed nervously. "I woudn't risk all of our lives if I wasn't."  
  
The two held each other's gaze for a few more moments, then it was broken when Bulma began making her way back to the ship, leaving Vejita behind. The convict smirked at this small victory and followed, not over with his interrogation yet. "Those weaklings will never be able to drag those energy cells for such a long distance, you know."  
  
Bulma clenched her fists in frustration. "Why are you following me? If all you're going to do is point out all of the negative things, then go and bother somebody else. I'm sure that Marron would love to complain with you."  
  
"Marron?" Vejita snorted. "I would sooner strike up a conversation with Yamcha."  
  
"She's a pretty girl," Bulma said. Anything to get Vejita off her back. The man was starting to scare her with his insinuating comments and mysterious looks. "Most men wouldn't pass up the opportunity."  
  
"They would if they had the option of something better."   
  
Bulma looked at him sharply, but her odd companion had already moved ahead, and was disappearing over a sand dune. Her mind reeling from the unpredictability of that man, she shook her head and followed his example.  
"Stop pulling the damned thing the other way!"   
  
"I wasn't, I swear! The thing is just so heavy--"  
  
"Shut the fuck up, both of you--"  
  
Bulma looked over to where Yamcha, Goku, and Vejita were arguing while struggling with the energy cells that were still imbedded in the rubble, then turned back to her work of organizing what supplies were to be put on the capsule ship. It wasn't a mind-consuming, difficult job-- they had used most of the meager supplies that they had already. The suns were almost halfway below the horizon now, and she had to squint to make out some of the writing on the various boxes she came across. Vejita seemed to the only one not tripping over the occasional rock or piece of metal. Chichi and Marron were conversing quietly a short distance away, glancing over at Yamcha or Bulma every once and a while, clearly doubtful of this whole plan of escape. Bulma could hardly blame them. She wasn't too sure herself.  
  
She was sorting through a box labeled 'Unperishable Goods' when she felt a presence behind her. Expecting Vejita again, coming over to harass her, she turned with a frown. She found herself face-to-face with Chichi, who wasn't looking her best.  
  
"What is it?" Bulma asked her gently. She couldn't even imagine what it must have been like to be in her position. "Is something wrong?"  
  
"Of course something's wrong," Chichi replied seriously. "The suns have almost set, and we aren't even close to being ready."  
  
Bulma sighed. "I know, I--"  
  
"Don't even bother." Chichi kneeled down beside her and began helping her with the contents of the boxes. "I'm sorry about some of the things I might have said earlier on. I know that it isn't entirely your fault. What I came over to say was..." She trailed off uncertainly, and Bulma began getting an idea of what her intentions were. "That is, I was just wondering how you were going to decide on who the lucky 'three or four survivors' are going to be."  
  
"It really isn't my decision." Bulma wrapped her arms around her legs and frowned. "I guess that its Yamcha's-- he's the captain of the ship. Frankly, I think that we're going to wait until its time to leave before making a decision. I'm sure that you've heard Vejita mention before that we might not have to eliminate anybody-- you've seen firsthand what can happen when you run into one of those little monsters."  
  
Chichi shuddered a bit. "Speaking of Vejita-- what are you and Yamcha planning to do about him? I mean, you can't have him in such close quarters with the rest of us when positions on the ship are at stake..."  
  
"There isn't much that we CAN do," Bulma pointed out. "Unless YOU want to volunteer."  
  
"As captains of the ship, I would think that you two would be making a little bit more effort to preserve our lives!" Chichi's tone of voice showed that she meant business. "Look what's happened to Krillen and my poor baby Gohan! If I didn't know any better, I would say that this is all your faul--"  
  
"I don't think that you understa..." Bulma trailed off in mid-sentence, her blue eyes wide and locked on the horizon. "--and."  
  
"What? What is it?" Chichi followed her gaze and gasped. "Oh Kami..."  
  
The girls had turned just in time to see the two suns disappear below the horizon.  
  
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(A/N): I hope that I updated fast enough for you guys! I tried! ^_^ This chapter would have come out sooner, but I had lots of things to do, you know, with Easter Sunday parties and all that. Expect the next one by the end of the week. I'm guessing... Thursday? Nothing's for sure, but keep an eye out. That's all I have to say besides please remember to review!  
  
Rhapsody~*  
HawaiianBabay@aol.com  
AOL Instant Messanger: Hawaiian Babay  
  
_________________________________________________________________________________________ 


	10. Risks

P I T C H B L A C K.............................  
............................................................a fic by Rhapsody~*  
  
.................................................................................................... 10: Risks  
Vejita had been in the process of freeing an energy cell from the rubble when the planet was suddenly deprived of all light. It didn't make the slightest difference in his vision whatsoever, besides enhancing it, so his reaction was casual, but all of the passengers around him broke out into a state of chaos. Yamcha immediately dropped to the ground, covering his head with his hands like some kind of bitch, Chichi and Marron screeched and stumbled closer to the ship, and Goku squinted around wildly. Only Bulma remained somewhat calm, taking in long, deep breaths and feeling her way towards the other passengers.   
  
Vejita saw an opportunity to do just what Yamcha had predicted-- take off for the capsule ship and leave, but something stopped him. His eyes moved over to Bulma, who was biting her lower lip to keep from panicking. The hard man had not experienced any form of human contact since he had been convicted, and here he saw a golden chance. Knowing that he could not be seen, he silently approached the woman and covered her mouth to prevent her from screaming and alerting the others.   
  
She struggled and glanced around uselessly, unable to determine what was happening to her, until Vejita bent to whisper to her. When she recognized his voice, she went still and listened. Vejita knew that she was thinking of his advantage over them all now that the darkness had fallen.  
  
"You have a choice in this situation, woman-- so choose wisely. Come with me and remain silent, and we can get off this piece of shit planet before things start happening."  
  
Bulma began struggling against him again. "No fucking way," she hissed in response, her voice muffled through Vejita's hand. "I'm not leaving without the others, and especially not with you!"  
  
"Don't be stupid," Vejita responded harshly, becoming increasingly aware that the woman was closer to him than she had ever been. "Even after the chrome-dome and that annoying brat croaked, there isn't enough room on that ship for all of us. At least you're receiving a fucking chance!"  
  
"I would never leave them here to die." Bulma, though she could not see, stared unblinkingly forward, her lips set in a thin line of determination. "No matter what you say."  
  
Vejita normally would have killed a person for showing such defiance, but found himself releasing the bold woman and moving back towards the energy cells, leaving her to find her own way over in the dark. He had no idea why he wasn't making a run for the ship, but there wasn't much that he could do about it now. Yamcha had regained control of himself and had drawn his gun and was fumbling with his flashlight. The other passengers had gathered around him, and Bulma was drawing nearer.  
  
When Yamcha's light flickered on, they all jumped in surprise. Bulma, though clearly shaken from their previous encounter, turned to Vejita.  
  
"Can you see any of those aliens coming this way?"  
  
Vejita thought about lying just to piss her off, but instead turned towards the horizon. A few brave creatures were fluttering up from their termite hills, but it appeared that the bulk of the population hadn't come out yet. "Not yet, but if we continue sitting around, I'm sure that that will change."  
  
"Alright," Yamcha began. "We're gonna take the energy cells inside of the ship and start planning. If we're gonna get them to the capsule ship in time, its going to take some creative thinking."  
  
"I don't know, Yamcha," Bulma said doubtfully. "We should get those cells over to the ship as soon as possible, so then we won't have to deal with so many of those things. But in order to do anything, I think that we have to take care of something first." Her blue eyes once again moved to Vejita, who smirked in anticipation. "You're the only one of us who can see at the moment, so we're going to need your help. And also-- you are the only one who can handle the energy cells alone. Will you help us?"  
  
"My help doesn't come so easily." Vejita's smirk grew larger. "Perhaps some... persuasion... is in order."  
  
Bulma rolled her eyes. "I can guarantee you a seat on the ship."  
  
"Done." Vejita reveled in the angry reactions of the other passengers.  
  
"Hold it!" Yamcha exclaimed angrily. "How do you know that we can trust this psychopath now that we've reached crunchtime? For all we know, he'll lead us straight to some aliens and call it a day!"  
  
Bulma made a move to protest, but was harshly slapped across the face by Yamcha, whose brown eyes were blazing. In a flash, Vejita's knife was out and poised in front of Yamcha's vulnerable testicles, and Yamcha's gun was aimed at the convict's head. All was silent. Bulma faced away from them, her stinging face cupped in her hands.  
  
"Make one move, and I'll blow your fucking brains out," Yamcha warned.  
  
Vejita was not impressed. "You'll be castrated as soon as you pull the trigger."  
  
After a few tense seconds, Yamcha snorted disgustedly and dropped his gun. "Fine! Crazy bastard..."  
  
Bulma silently met Vejita's eyes, and that was all the thank-you he needed. Yamcha retreated from the group and into the ship, leaving the others to wordlessly follow him. Vejita hoisted two of the energy cells onto his shoulders and allowed everyone else to file in first. The passengers gathered in the room that had contained them on the trip there, and began starting up a small fire to light the room. Yamcha pulled down the ladder that led up to a storage compartment just large enough for a few people (brilliantly designed for an emergency) and disappeared, leaving the shocked passengers behind to stare after him. Bulma still faced away from the group.  
  
Vejita sheathed his knife irritably and mentally abused himself for defending the stupid girl. He didn't care about anybody but himself, so what the hell was that? If he hadn't gotten so close to the girl a few times before, this never would have happened. The angry convict blamed it on his time secluded in prison and watched the fire broodingly.  
  
"So what do we do now?" Goku asked quietly, wrapping a comforting arm around his wife.   
  
"We can't make a decision without our captain here," Marron pointed out. "I hope he comes down soon! I can hear those-- THINGS already!"  
  
The passengers fell silent, straining to hear the eerie noises that were getting closer with every passing minute. Goku and Chichi snuggled a little closer together. Marron looked longingly over at Vejita, then sighed and wrapped her arms around herself.  
  
Bulma turned back towards them, her face now out of her hands. A bright red handprint was beginning to show up on her delicate face, a sight that set Vejita's blood boiling. The woman nodded in acknowledgment to the others and stood, heading over to the ladder that Yamcha had retreated up.   
  
Vejita put a hand on his knife and watched her as she ascended the ladder.   
Yamcha was bent over his beloved box of morphine, and was in the process of inserting one of the thin needles into his arm. Bulma stood at the top of the ladder for a moment, watching the irrational man waste what could eventually save one of their lives, and sighed to make herself known. Yamcha didn't seem to notice. As he gently pulled the needle out of his skin, he began to speak.  
  
"Where's your bodyguard?" he asked bitterly.  
  
Bulma frowned. "That's hardly fair, Yamcha. The only reason he did that was because he needs me to run the ship."  
  
"Bullshit." Yamcha trembled as the effects of the morphine took hold. "The son of a bitch can fly anything with wings. He's been in prison for a long time, and he's obviously dying to get into your pants."  
  
"Don't be an ass, Yamcha," Bulma snapped. "Earlier in this trip, I could have said the same thing about you."  
  
Yamcha tossed his used needle aside carelessly, then turned to face her. His eyes were bloodshot, and his left eye twitched a little when he spoke. "What the hell-- we're all screwed anyway. You and I both know that that ship won't take off without getting rid of some people, and even if we did accomplish that, we still have to drag those fucking heavy energy cells for such a long distance, on a planet invested with aliens. Its hopeless."  
  
Bulma crossed her arms. "It might not be as hopeless as you think. Vejita can see in the dark, so at least we have a chance at spotting those things before they jump at us. And we have the flashlights and some fire-- they don't like light, so we can keep them at bay with those."  
  
Yamcha was silent for a moment, his expression darkening. "Why did you guarantee Vejita a seat on the ship?"  
  
"Admit it, Yamcha. We need him to survive! There isn't anything else that I could offer him that would be convincing enough."  
  
"Are you sure about that?" Yamcha's red-rimmed eyes roved over her body, then settled on her face.   
  
"Oh, fuck off," Bulma dismissed, turning to leave.   
  
"Wait," Yamcha called.   
  
Bulma stopped, sighed, then turned around. She was obviously bothered by his comment-- her lips were set in a hard line, and her eyes were closed off. "What do you want now?"  
  
"Plan what you want," he said emotionlessly. "I don't give a fuck what we do."  
  
Bulma studied him for a moment, then began descending the ladder. She was out of sight just in time to miss Yamcha grab another needle and stick it into his arm, trembling all the while.  
"Did you two have a nice conversation?" Vejita asked as Bulma approached the fire again.  
  
Bulma ignored his sarcasm and turned to the others. "Yamcha doesn't care what we plan, just so long as it makes sense." She let down her hair in order to clear her thoughts, painfully aware of Vejita's eyes on her. "So what do you guys think?"  
  
Goku cleared his throat. "Well, all I know is that we have to get off of this planet as soon as possible, because, well, listen."  
  
Bulma could make out the sounds of many alien noises all along the sides of the ship. She knew that there were openings and cracks all over the ship, which meant that they would find their way inside soon enough. She shuddered and forced herself to remain calm. "All right-- they're afraid of light, obviously. We'll take our two flashlights and some fire to protect ourselves. We have to drag all four energy cells over to the capsule ship, especially if we're going to be carrying so much extra weight." She could not bring herself to relate to them the cold reality that even with ten energy cells, they wouldn't get off the ground with so many people.   
  
"One problem with that," Vejita began. "No matter how much you want to get off the ground, its not going to happen with so many damned people. I say that we--"  
  
"I don't think that any of us care how you would prefer to dispose of us!" Bulma snapped, running her hands through her hair in frustration. "I think that we all know about the weight limit already, okay?!"  
  
"You're losing it, woman," Vejita commented with a scowl. "You'd better watch yourself."  
  
"I could say the same to you," Bulma replied hotly. "We're all at the same risk here, even if you are nocturnal."  
  
There was a long, uncomfortable silence when Bulma and Vejita engaged in an intense staring contest. Vejita finally rolled his eyes and tossed a piece of broken metal in the fire, causing sparks to fly up into their faces. Bulma narrowed her eyes at the convict and turned back to the others.  
  
"If we're going to do this, then we're going to have to do it fast, because we're running out of time. Vejita and Yamcha are going to have to drag the energy cells, and the rest of us can hold the light around them. I'll have to lead, since I'm the one who chose the location of the ship. If anything attacks us, then we're all going to have to use our light to fend them off. Either that or Yamcha and I can use our guns." Bulma pulled hers out and checked her bullets with a serious look. "I have three left, and Yamcha probably has the same. If all else fails, Vejita can use his knife or something."  
  
"Well, that's a solid plan," Chichi commented.  
  
"Its as solid as its going to get," Bulma replied coolly. "If we're going to do this, then its going to involve taking some risks."  
  
"That weakling Yamcha won't be able to handle two of those cells," Vejita pointed out. "And I do not want to be weighed down with four of those motherfuckers."  
  
"I could help him," Goku volunteered. "I may not be as strong as you, but I think that I can handle it."  
  
"That would work." Bulma got to her feet. "I'll get Yamcha."  
  
"That's not necessary."   
  
The passengers turned to look at Yamcha, who was standing at the base of the ladder, watching them with a frown. He had obviously been there to hear most of the planning, because he had his flashlight and gun at the ready.   
  
"And I don't need the help from Goku," he protested. "I can handle them as well as Vejita can."  
  
Vejita smirked and gestured to the two energy cells he had brought inside. "Proove it."  
  
Yamcha stormed over to the cells and attempted to hoist them onto his shoulders as Vejita had done. Rather than make a fool of himself by struggling with them for any longer, he dropped them and crossed his arms. "Fine. Goku helps me, but I know that this isn't going to work."  
  
"Don't be so childish," Bulma snapped, unhooking her own flashlight and gun from her belt. The passengers looked to her expectantly. "Well, its now or never."  
  
She moved to the door of the ship that led to the outside. The strange sounds of communication coming from the aliens sounded like it was being emitted from right outside the door. Bulma lifted a shaky and and motioned for the others to follow her.  
  
Despite the risk, the brave woman put her hand on the doorknob and turned.  
  
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(A/N): Ooh, cliffhanger! So sorry about that, but I didn't want the chapter to drag on forever. Expect some more B/V coming up soon... its not going to be what you're expecting, either. *Evil grin* I've been trying to start updating a more steady rate just for you guys, so expect the next chapter by the end of the week. I'm really starting to get some inspiration for this fic, and as far as I can see, there's no writer's block in sight! ^_^ Whew! What a relief... Anyway, thank you for all of the wonderful reviews that you've been leaving! I really, really appreciate them and the nice e-mails I've been getting! Keep up the great compliments! Ja ne, and please remember to review!  
  
Rhapsody~*  
HawaiianBabay@aol.com  
AOL Instant Messanger: Hawaiian Babay  
  
_________________________________________________________________________________________ 


	11. Dangers

P I T C H B L A C K.............................  
............................................................a fic by Rhapsody~*  
  
.................................................................................................... 11: Dangers  
The outside world didn't look too dangerous at first. The darkness was as dark as ink, and the passengers, excluding Vejita, could only see what the small flashlight beams could illuminate. Vejita, however, saw everything.  
  
In the distance, the termite hills rose into the horizon, enlongated as the strange flying creatures flocked out by the thousands. They reached into the sky as far as the (doctored) eye could see, emitting their spine-tingling noises and going after each other for food. Vejita scowled and looked around the immediate area, which was invested with the variation of creatures that could not fly. He saw some that were larger than horses among the normal, dog-sized population. They screeched at each other and moved away from the light as Bulma aimed it around blindly. A flock of the flying things ripped past overhead, their beady little eyes focused hungrily on the small, shivering group. Judging from the unbelieveable concentration of the aliens, Vejita could be fairly certain that they had already made their murderous little way into their wrecked ship.   
  
"What do you see?" Bulma asked in a low whisper, as if the sound of her voice would disturb the creatures. "I know that you've seen something."  
  
Vejita looked down at the woman's worried face, then back to the swarming masses of aliens that edged bravely closer, their fangs bared. "Nothing of noteworthy importance. You know, the usual millions of different variations of the same hungry creature, flying and crawling their way around the damned light."  
  
Bulma frowned and squinted out towards the horizon, her normal human eyes handicapped by the darkness. "I wish that I could see." She exhaled, then did something that she herself wasn't expecting. She placed a quivering hand on Vejita's muscled arm. "Lead the way."  
  
"You must have a death wish, woman," Vejita grumbled, agitated by the reaction to her timid contact. He hadn't been voluntarily touched by any person, let alone a woman, in years. Excluding his struggling victims, of course, but that was hardly the same thing. He knew that Yamcha could see, and cooled his nerves with that thought.  
  
He stepped out of the ship with Bulma beside him, causing the group of brave aliens that had ventured closer to scatter in all directions, wary of the light Bulma carried shakily. The flutter of millions of wings could be heard overhead, but Bulma never once flinched or ducked, as the others did behind them. She stared unblinkingly forward, her eyes focused on her destination. Vejita adjusted his two energy cells he was dragging by some rope and looked back to Yamcha and Goku, who dragged one each. Chichi and Marron were huddled together near them.  
  
"Look forward," Bulma insisted quietly. "Please."  
  
"Calm down," Vejita snapped in response. "As long as you're carrying that light the little shits aren't going to bother you."  
  
"I'd like to be extra careful, if you don't mind."  
  
Vejita rolled his eyes and began moving faster. The things were getting braver-- some had even gone so far as to stick a tail or a claw into the beam of light, and had recoiled with minor burns as a result of the exposure. Vejita observed how the things moved. They kept their heads at an angle as they walked, because their eyes were on either side of their head, like a horse's was. This reminded Vejita of something, but he couldn't quite place it...  
  
"Blind spots," Bulma pointed out for him. "See the position of their eyes? They can't see directly in front of them. That's strange."  
  
Vejita looked down at her sharply, wondering how she could be thinking the same thing as he, then shook off the thought. It hardly mattered anyway. All was going relatively well, until the passengers began shouting from behind them. Bulma and Vejita turned just in time to catch a glimpse of Chichi tripping and falling out of the safety of the light. Marron shrieked and jumped at Yamcha, who nearly fell to the ground in shock. Goku reached out, but it was too late. The brown, crawling creatures lunged at the screaming woman, but the flying things got to her first. The horrifed humans watched as Chichi was carried up into the air and eaten alive simultaneously, her shrieks and moans of pain echoing over the barren land. Goku fell to his knees, his face a mask of shock and sorrow. One down, five to go.  
  
Bulma withdrew her hand from Vejita's arm and stared blankly at the splatters of blood that stained the planet's soil where Chichi had been just a few seconds ago. The others were doing much the same thing, except for Marron, who sobbed hysterically in Yamcha's arms.  
  
"Oh Kami," Bulma breathed. "She's gone."  
  
"She didn't want to live, anyway," Vejita commented under his breath. "Now we only have to get rid of two more people."  
  
Bulma turned to him incredulously. "I can't believe that you just said that. She's DEAD!"  
  
"How nice of you to notice." Vejita turned and began dragging the energy cells towards the capsule ship again. "Hurry up, I need that light!"  
They ended up following Vejita, not surprisingly. There was no body to dispose of, not even a limb or two to show for Chichi's violent death. Goku was silent and stoic as he dragged his energy cell behind him, all traces of his agreeable smile gone. Bulma missed his cheerful attitude already. She was musing over how easy it was to get yourself killed when Vejita stopped in his tracks.  
  
"We can't go this way anymore," he said monotonously, as if he were relating the weather.   
  
Bulma stared blindly off into the distance. "Why the hell not?"  
  
Vejita observed the massive scene of carnage that stretched as far as the eye could see. The aliens had begun to eat each other, and weren't being very discreet about it. As far as Vejita's vision stretched, large groups of the things huddled together, ripping and tearing each other apart with eerie shrieks of pain, victory, who knew? The things were so consumed in their meal(s) that it would literally impossible to blaze a path through them.   
  
"Do you really want to know?"   
  
Bulma shook her head, her stomach lurching. Yamcha, however, would not be convinced so easily.  
  
"This is a scam!" he exclaimed angrily. "You're trying to lead us into trouble so that you can take the ship for yourself!"  
  
Vejita scowled, then turned around to look Yamcha face-to-face. "If you have so little faith in me, then why don't you just go on ahead, Captain America? I think that you're forgetting something here-- I can see in the dark, you can't. You'd do well to keep your damned mouth shut."  
  
Yamcha frowned, but gave in. "You're going to pay for this, son of a bitch."  
  
"There's no need to insult my dear old mother," Vejita called back as he surveyed the area for another route to the ship. "And by the way, you have me trembling in my little space boots with your threats."  
  
"Arrogant motherfuck..."   
  
Vejita ignored Yamcha's mutterings and concentrated on finding a way around the masses of cannibalized aliens to the capsule ship. There was a large canyon to the right, which seemed to be the clearest spot as far as he could see. The only threat seemed to be the aliens that hid up in the rocks above the canyon, ready to pounce on whoever came near. Vejita eyed the two flashlights and burning pieces of wood that Marron and Goku carried, and pressed ahead in that direction.   
  
Bulma deliberately stayed behind, though she kept her flashlight aimed up near Vejita for protection. She was still horrified at the cold way Vejita had regarded Chichi's death. In a way, she knew that he was right for pressing ahead, but that didn't mean that she had to be happy about it. The sounds of Goku's occasional sniffles and deep, defeated sighs were enough to tear her apart inside. She wasn't a soft person, but witnessing the gruesome deaths of three people she was supposed to be responsible for did odd things to a person. She couldn't even imagine what a mess Vejita must be inside. She brushed some hair out of her face and concentrated on walking steadily ahead, though the idea of following a convicted serial killer blindly into the alien-invested darkness did not rest well on the mind.   
  
"I-- we have to stop!" Marron exclaimed frantically from behind her. "I'm gonna be sick!"  
  
Vejita reluctantly stopped and turned around in time to see Marron fall to her knees and begin vomiting violently. The girl's hair was getting in the way, so Bulma knelt beside her and held it aside, even though her own stomach was growling in protest. She couldn't help but notice the blood in the liquid that Marron was emitting. The malnutrition and dehydration was beginning to take its toll. Bulma suspected that the emotional stress she had been experiencing was a contributing factor as well. When Marron finished, she collapsed weakly into Bulma's lap, her eyes fluttering weakly.  
  
"I feel so strange..." Marron's eyes darted around wildly. "I feel sick."  
  
"We have to keep going!" Yamcha shouted intensely. "We can't afford to sit and wait for her to start feeling better. We ALL feel like shit!"  
  
"We have to stop for a least a few minutes," Bulma insisted. "She's got to recover before she goes hiking around the planet after Vejita."  
  
The convict sighed and approached them, dragging the energy cell behind him. "Fine. We rest. Build a fire or something." The passengers watched as he dropped the rope connected to the two energy cells he carried and disappeared into the shadows to be alone. It seemed that even the bloodthirsty aliens knew better than to mess with Vejita.  
  
"Shh," Bulma soothed Marron absently, her eyes locked on the shadowy figure of Vejita. "Rest."  
  
Goku and Yamcha managed to build a small fire using the flames that licked up their makeshift torches and some brittle, dead branches they discovered around th area. In order to get the flames started, they had to contribute strips of their own tattered clothing. Bulma fingered the raw edge of her shirt, which was now ripped to reveal her flat stomach, and watched the flames silently. Marron dozed in her lap, trembling and shuddering periodically as if nightmares plagued her. No nightmare, however, could be worse than their current situation.  
  
When Marron had not stirred for a minute or so, Bulma gently got up from under her and crossed the area over to Vejita, who stared blankly ahead, ignoring her. She crossed her arms and stood near him, waiting for him to acknowledge her.   
  
"What do you want?" he demanded. "Get back into the light with the others."  
  
Bulma shook her head and glanced over at the fire, where everyone but Yamcha was distracted. Yamcha caught her eyes, then looked away quickly. She hoped that he would keep his eyes on his own business.  
  
"I want to know why you tried to protect me," she began quietly. "When Yamcha slapped me."  
  
Vejita scowled and crossed his arms. "What makes you think that I was protecting you? I would take any opportunity to maim that bastard."  
  
Bulma averted her gaze to her feet, then back up at Vejita boldly. "Don't bullshit me, Vejita."  
  
"I don't bullshit anybody," Vejita snapped back, his unnatural eyes gleaming oddly.   
  
Bulma watched as he stepped back into the deep shadows near the edge of the canyon, hiding himself from her view. She followed him, lured in by the strange look in his eyes, then realized that they couldn't be seen from the fire in case something happened. Her heart raced in her chest. "Vejita?" she called out softly, reaching out blindly ahead of her. Her fingers met with the cool flesh of Vejita's chest, and she felt herself being seized by strong hands pulled closer. She didn't have time to gasp before Vejita suddenly covered her mouth with his. Bulma eyelids fluttered against his face in shock. He was kissing her. She was kissing HIM. She found herself responding instead of pulling away, which surprised her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and melted closer to him as she felt hands along her small waistline, exploring. She was so enthralled in the spur-of-the-moment kiss that when Yamcha grabbed her and began pulling her way, she fell back on the sand on her ass.  
  
Not knowing what else to do without Vejita's protection, she scurried on her hands and knees back into the fire's light. She knew that Yamcha had overstepped his bounds one last time, and interuppted the wrong person's kiss. Her lips still tingled from the encounter.  
  
Through the darkness, she could make out three areas of movement-- Vejita, Yamcha, and one of the creatures brave enough to venture closer. Bulma covered her ears to block out the violent sounds of Yamcha's death. Whether it was done by Vejita or the creature, she could not determine. Did it even make a difference anymore? Behind her, Marron had awaken and was clinging to Goku, sobbing for all she was worth. Bulma could hardly blame her.   
  
Vejita suddenly emerged from the shadows, carrying a bloody knife in one hand and Yamcha's flashlight in the other. Bulma, overwhelmed by her mixed and raging emotions, rested her forehead in the dirt and cried, though no tears came out of her eyes. She hadn't had enough water, even for that. A large hand rested on the small of her back-- Vejita. Bulma slowly lifted herself up into a kneeling position and met his luminescent eyes with her own.   
  
"Get up," Vejita urged quietly. "Get up or else you'll be joining him soon enough."  
  
Bulma brushed some tousled strands of hair out of her face. "Did you kill him?"  
  
The convict gave her his strange smirk, the one that reminded her that he was a killer and no just the latest bad boy. "I sure as hell helped."  
  
With her question somewhat answered, Bulma found the strength to lift herself out of the dirt and onto her feet with only a bit of Vejita's assistance. WHen she lifted her eyes, she found herself nearly pressed up against him as she had been very recently, and her breath caught in her throat.   
  
"Once again I find myself in a perilous position," Vejita said quietly, his arms still wrapped around her.   
  
Bulma lifted a brow and fought back her nervousness. "And what are you planning to do about it?"  
  
Vejita chuckled, and much to Bulma's surprise, reached out and slid the scrunchie out of her hair, allowing her longish hair to fall around her shoulders. Bulma narrowed her eyes and studied him puzzledly. She had no chance to respond, because Vejita pulled away and started to wipe his bloodstained knife clean. Bulma realized that he had been holding it close to her the whole time and was thankful that she hadn't known. Vejita's eyes flashed as he turned away and started trudging through the canyon again, dragging the energy cells along with him.   
  
"Wow, Bulma," Marron remarked as they moved to follow. "You've changed."  
  
Bulma nodded silently and moved to assist Goku in dragging the two energy cells. Marron was right. She had.  
  
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(A/N): Wow, this chapter was done wayyy before I was expecting it to. I wrote this entire thing in the space of an hour! Talk about inspiration... Anyway thanks for all of those reviews! I swear, you guys are almost TOO good to me. *Ego beings inflating uncontrollably*. ^_^;; I hope that I can expect the same kind of response for all the other chapters... ^_______^ -------- Biiiiig dopey grin... LOL! Until next time.... ja ne, and please remember to drop a review!  
  
Rhapsody~*  
HawaiianBabay@aol.com  
AOL Instant Messanger: Hawaiian Babay  
  
_________________________________________________________________________________________ 


	12. Happenings

P I T C H B L A C K.............................  
............................................................a fic by Rhapsody~*  
  
.................................................................................................... 12: Happenings  
The creatures squealed and screeched at each other as the small group of humans passed, protected by their dim lights. A few ventured into the light and were reduced to a sizzling mass of alien tissue and fangs. Vejita took every opportunity to take a closer look at the things, despite Bulma, Goku, and Marron shrinking away in disgust and fear. Vejita hated surprises, and he wanted to be prepared.  
  
Speaking of hating surprises, he was at the moment hating himself for the whole kiss stunt with Bulma just a short amount of time ago. There was no doubt that he had been wanting to do it since he had caught a glimpse of her pale blue eyes, but it was a rare occasion that Vejita, cold hard serial killer, lost control of himself like that. He contented himself with the knowledge that if he had to do something like that, he had chosen the right chick. Bulma Briefs was a prize from every angle, that was for sure. She was currently consoling and quieting Marron, who was near to giving in to hysterics as the creatures got bolder and braver. The torches they carried were burning down quickly, and the flashlight batteries could only last for so long.  
  
"Hey, Vejita!" Goku called up hesitantly. "Don't you think that we should stop and see how close we are?"  
  
Vejita paused in mid-step, then turned to glare at Goku. "No."  
  
"But--" Goku stopped when the corner of Vejita's mouth twitched dangerously. "Nevermind."  
  
"No," Bulma insisted firmly. "Not 'nevermind'. You're right. We have to stop and take a look to make sure that we're even going in the right direction."  
  
Vejita admired her firey courage, but only to a certain point. He was getting frustrated with the remaining passengers' doubts and fears. "I'm getting sick of stopping every other fucking minute!" Rather than waste any more time arguing, when he knew that it was a useless battle, he instead sighed. He shrugged off the ropes attached to the energy cells and scowled ferociously at the others. "How do you propose we do this?"  
  
Bulma lifted her head towards the cliffs that extended high above them. "The best way would be to have somebody scale one of those things..." She took in the jagged edges and many holes in the face of the rock. "It shouldn't be too difficult. If no one else will do it, I will."  
  
There was an awkward silence as the offer stood open. Seeing as no one else was going to take it, and it had to be done anyway, Vejita prepared himself to speak. He was interuppted, surprisingly, by Bulma.  
  
"I'll do it." She didn't appear nervous in the least. "I'm going to carry the flashlight with me, and then you guys can shine your lights around me for extra protection. Got it?"  
  
Goku and Marron nodded passively, then looked to Vejita for reassurance. The convict frowned, then nodded his agreement. It didn't make a difference to him whether or not the silly woman wanted to risk her life. She might be good for a kiss or two, but she was by no means the last woman in the universe. Or at least he made himself think that way.  
  
Bulma was two steps ahead of them all. She had knelt to rub some sand onto her hands for extra grip and was observing the wall of the canyon, trying to find the best spot for climbing. When she seemed satisfied, she took a deep breath and began her ascent. She was painfully aware of the creatures that scurried out of the light's path above her, and prayed to Kami that she would not encounter one of the brave ones. She had not come this far to be killed now.  
  
She had scaled the side of the cliff soon enough and hoisted herself up to the edge with a little difficulty. Her slender body was unaccustomed to this kind of workout, even after the last couple of hours of hard work. The capsule ship was easy enough to spot, if you could look beyond the crawling masses of carnivorous aliens that had long since begun to devour each other. Thankfully, the small lights on the ship provided her with only limited view. She certainly had no desire to see any more than she could already. Her stomach flip-flopping, she began climbing back down slowly.  
  
"Its not that far away," she announced when she had both feet securely on the ground. "We have to make it out of this canyon, and then its only two hundred or so feet beyond that."  
  
"Then lets get a head start," Vejita suggested shortly, taking the rope from Bulma and securing it back on the energy cell. "I want to get back to that shithole that I call home."  
  
"Not so fast." Bulma crossed her arms. "Once we get out in the open, we'll have to make a run for it. In order to do that, we're going to have to rest."  
  
Vejita's brows snapped together in irritation. "No fucking way."  
  
"Oh, please!" Marron piped up, clasping her hands together. "I'm sooo tired!"  
  
"Definitely," Goku agreed, readjusting his energy cells on his shoulders. "These are heavy!"  
  
Bulma said nothing, sensing that Vejita was close to exploding. She was right.  
  
"If you want to stay behind and rest, then so be it!" he growled. "I'm dragging these fucking HEAVY energy cells, ALL of them, to the damned ship, and if I'm feeling generous, I might come back for you fools!" He made a move towards Goku's cells.  
  
Bulma stepped into his way. "Don't you dare yell at us like we're stupid or something! You might not like to admit it, but you're as exhausted as the rest of us, probably even more so, since you never seem to sleep or slow down like a normal human being! We're going to stay behind and REST, and YOU'RE going to come back for us!" She glared up at him with her intense blue eyes, fearlessly daring him to move a step closer to Goku and his energy cells.  
  
"Oh really?" Vejita challenged. "And who's going to make me-- you?"  
  
Bulma hesitated, then nodded. "If I have to."  
  
"I think I might step forward just to witness that," Vejita commented, amused. He could hardly believe that this woman cared so much about saving two people that she barely even knew. "Since I'm so scared of you and your threats, I'll step down this one last time. You'll rest, then we'll run the rest of the way to make up time. Understand?"  
  
She did not seem eager to believe that he would give up so easily-- wise of her-- but she eventually nodded and averted her gaze from his. Vejita smirked at this small victory, and hoped that they would have time to experience many more confrontations similar to this. He found it oddly exhilarating to have somebody stand up to him after so many years of everyone cowering away.   
  
Suddenly, Bulma's flashlight began flickering, then went out, leaving them illuminated only by dim firelight. Marron squeaked and attached herself to Goku, who looked ready to scream himself. The creatures that had been trailing them, just out of the reach of the light, made their strange noises and crawled closer, fangs bared. Vejita was relieved that he was the only one who could see them, or else Marron might jump into HIS lap.   
  
"We have to find some shelter," Bulma said. "Its the only safe way to rest for a little bit."  
  
"I've been seeing caves in the rock along the way," Marron pointed out timidly. "If that helps..."  
  
Bulma flashed her a tight smile and began scanning the sides of canyon as best she could in the dark. Vejita was way ahead of her. He began walking to the left, in the direction of a good-sized cave. As far as he could tell, there were no occupants inside. Just to be safe, he tossed a rock, then listened. Silence.   
  
"I'm going in," Goku said, striding in confidently. "My legs and arms are killing me!"  
  
Marron followed hot on his heels. Bulma and Vejita, however, hesitated. Bulma began to duck inside, but stopped when she felt Vejita's hand on her arm.   
  
"What is it?"   
  
"You don't want to rest." Vejita studied her smugly. "So why are you putting on a damned show?"  
  
"I'm doing no such thing," Bulma snapped, snatching her arm out of his grip. "I'm doing what's best for everyone. Maybe you should think about doing that sometime."  
  
"Wouldn't you rather find a separate cave for the two of us?" Vejita mocked teasingly. "Since we've gotten so... close and shit."  
  
"Close and shit," Bulma repeated flatly. "You kissed me. That hardly convinces me to jump you."  
  
"It worked for me."  
  
Bulma narrowed her eyes at this odd man, not sure whether he was serious or not. She decided that she would never know, and started to go into the cave again.  
  
"How nice," was her dry reply.  
  
Vejita allowed her to go into the cave, which was now dimly lit by the burning pieces of wood Goku and Marron had propped into the ground, and then followed. He discovered that Goku and Marron were nearly asleep already.  
  
"What the hell are you two doing?" he demanded, kicking Goku's leg mercilessly. "Wake the fuck up!"  
  
"Huh? Wha..." Goku wiped off the small trail of drool that had escaped his parched lips and blushed. "Oops." Marron dozed on, oblivious to the world.  
  
"Let them rest," Bulma advised quietly. "Just for a little while. The darkness isn't going anywhere, and neither is the capsule ship. What difference does it make?" She glanced briefly over at Goku, who had fallen back asleep again and was snoring.  
  
Vejita recognized hopelessness when he heard it, and he was seeing it now in Bulma. "You're giving up."  
  
"No," Bulma replied. "I'm just... tired."  
  
"Bullshit," Vejita snorted. "If you're really feeling hopeless, I could always hoist you over a shoulder with the energy cells and we can make away with the money, if you know what I mean."  
  
"As you've put it-- 'no fucking way'." Bulma frowned and watched the two remaining torches beingreduced into twin piles of smoldering ashes. "When we're screwed, I'll be happy to acknowledge it."  
  
The lights flickered out almost simulataneously, as if someone above was coordinating them. Vejita raised an eyebrow and looked to Bulma smugly. She shuddered and opened her mouth to speak.  
  
"We're screwed."  
Nearly five minutes creeped by before Bulma realized that she couldn't sense Vejita anywhere. She scanned the dark cave frantically, searching for any signs of movement, since Goku's snoring was draining out all sounds. Just when she was sure that he had left them there to die, she felt herself being pulled away from the two other passengers, towards the back of the cave. She nearly screamed until she recognized Vejita's strong hands and arms wrapped oh-so-subtly around her.  
  
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"  
  
Vejita chuckled, and the next thing she knew, Bulma was being pressed up against the hard wall of the cave. Vejita's mouth met hers, and his hands began traveling up her tattered shirt and to her breasts. The dazed woman could only make out his nocturnal eyes, so it was impossible to tell what the enigmatic killer was thinking. Bulma resisted the urge to moan as his hands nimbly moved to the zipper of her pants.   
  
Bulma had never really been a kinky woman, so it surprised her that she would enjoy herself so much in this strange situation. Here she was, about to have sexual intercourse with Earth's most notorious serial killer, not ten feet from the sleeping passengers, with bloodthirsty aliens scrambling around outside. Had someone told her that she would be doing this a few days ago, she would have laughed in their face. Yet here she was.   
  
She caught another glimpse of Veijta's doctored eyes, then he was inside her, and she did cry out. Thankfully, there still no sound from the other side of the cave, but Bulma doubted that she would have cared if there had been. Vejita also did not appear to care, as he made a few guttural noises here and there.  
  
"I... can't... BELIEVE this," she rasped shakily, digging her nails into her partner's muscled back.   
  
"You'd better start, because they're starting to stir," was Vejita's husky reply.   
  
Bulma hung on for another minute, then felt her orgasm coming on. Instead of crying out, as she had before, she clung to Vejita and bit down on her lip painfully. She tasted blood, and when Vejita's mouth found hers again, he must have tasted it, too, because he chuckled quietly in the darkness.  
As soon as she could slide her dirty clothing back on and separate from Vejita, who slid back into the shadows without so much as a word or smirk, Bulma moved to wake Goku and Marron. She was stopped, once again, by Vejita.  
  
"Don't wake them," he advised. "It would be pointless. I'm going to take the energy cells to that damned ship and get it over with."  
  
"And what about us?" Bulma demanded in harsh whisper.  
  
"I'll come to wake you." Vejita stood, grabbed the cells, and began trudging to the exit of the cave. "I'll drop them off, then come back for you."  
  
Bulma was not so sure, but it seemed that she didn't have a choice. "I won't let you get sex then leave! I'm nobody's whore-- if you don't come back in fifteen minutes, I'm waking the others and coming for you."  
  
Vejita held her serious gaze, then smirked. "Don't worry, I'll be back for more soon enough." Then he was gone. Bulma watched as he moved out of sight, braving the darkness by himself. It was only when he had been gone for two minutes that she began to wonder how he was going to protect himself, and how she was going to fend the aliens off without any light.   
  
Exhausted and confused, Bulma sat in the sand and leaned against the wall of the cave. She bent her head back, allowing her neck muscles to relax, and squeezed her eyes shut. Every moment seemed like an eternity. When she opened her eyes again, she was still facing the ceiling of the cave, and was met with a wonderous sight.  
  
Nearly fifty strange, glowing insects clung to the ceiling. They resembled fat, short worms, but they were blue. Bulma's brows furrowed at the strange sight. The things moved sluggishly around each other, leaving slimy, luminescent trails behind them. If Bulma hadn't been so... occupied... a few minutes ago, she would have undoubtedly noticed them before. They cast a dim, eerie azure light throughout the cave. Bulma now realized why Vejita had been so lax to leave her alone here, without light. The worms apparently radiated enough light to keep the aliens at bay. For now, anyway.  
  
Bulma watched them as if in a trance for what seemed like hours before she came to. She realized that Vejita had been gone for nearly a half an hour, if her instincts were to be trusted.   
  
"Bastard!" she hissed, slamming her fists down into the sand. "The evil ass is going to take the ship!"  
  
She would have to move quickly and suck up her fears if she was going to make it in time, but for the lives of herself and the other, innocent passengers, she would do whatever it took.  
  
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(A/N): Well then, all of you B/V fanatics got some action! I didn't want to write a full-blown lemon, because personally, I don't exactly approve of that, so I'm hoping that I've put in just enough to get your imaginations going. Tell me what you think, or if you have an opinion at all. I've been sooooo happy with all of the reviews I've been getting for the last couple of chapters! I LOVE LOVE LOVE you guys! This story is now over the one hundred mark, and at first I was doubtful that it would reach even that, so a million thanks to you guys! I'm only expecting this to go for a few more chapters, so things are gonna start happening pretty quickly now. What will Bulma do? Did Vejita really leave them all behind? Who will survive?? Find out next time on... Nevermind, LOL! Ja ne for now, and please remember to REVIEW!  
  
Rhapsody~*  
HawaiianBabay@aol.com  
AOL Instant Messanger: Hawaiian Babay  
  
Oh yes, one last thing-- you can see 'Pitch Black' on Channel USA TONIGHT at 6PM. Sorry about the late notice, but I just found this out for myself, sorry! Just if y'all wanted to see the inspiration for this fic. Those times are for us out near cold Michigan, so check your local listings to be sure about that. I hope you can check it out!  
  
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	13. Choices

P I T C H B L A C K.............................  
............................................................a fic by Rhapsody~*  
  
.................................................................................................... 13: Choices  
Vejita smirked as he moved quickly to make final flight checks on the capsule ship. He flipped switches and typed in navigational coordinates like a pro, just as Yamcha had warned Bulma he would do in the very beginning. The four energy cells sat behind him, ready to be shoved into their places in the hull. Vejita turned to do just that, then took his place in the driver's seat. The ship came to life instantly. Lights flashed and the engine purred at the convict's command.   
  
Vejita briefly gave some thought to the three remaining passengers alone, back in the cave. He had no qualms whatsoever about leaving Goku and Marron-- they were disposable, in his opinion. Bulma was another matter, however. The convict was not used to such attachments, and he meant to cure himself of this new weakness. He shifted the ship into gear and prepared for take-off.  
  
Just as he was about to lift off, he saw something out the front window that most certainly was not a curious alien. He narrowed his eyes to be sure that he was seeing correctly-- his eyes were still sensitive and adjusting to the brighter lights that the ship provided. Yet there it was, clear as day.  
  
Bulma stood in front of the ship, carrying a wine bottle filled to the brim with some strange, blue-glowing insects. Her blue eyes smoldered with fury, but her facial expression clearly showed what she was feeling inside. Disappointment.  
Bulma met Vejita's surprised eyes through the windshield and felt her stomach sink and her heart leap into her throat. Yamcha had been right all along, the cocky bastard. Vejita had gotten an opportunity to save himself, and he had done it. Vejita got up from his place in the driver's seat-- HER place, and moved towards the back of the ship. As Bulma moved to meet him around back, it began to rain. She didn't give it any thought, just walked along as if she weren't getting soaked to the bone. Thankfully, the worms in the bottle she carried didn't dim any.  
  
Vejita was riding down on the ramp, wearing that arrogant smirk that had become his trademark. Bulma's blood boiled.  
  
"You've got a hell of a lot of survival instinct," he commented, as if this were supposed to melt her heart and warm her right over. "I admire that in a woman."  
  
"You-- you ASSHOLE!" Bulma stammered angrily. "All this time I've been telling the others that Yamcha was wrong, that you wouldn't do this, that you had some human inside of you. How dare you try to leave us here?!"  
  
Vejita thought on that for a moment. "You were wrong."  
  
Bulma felt very violated and used. This man had twisted her around his fingers and used her-- sexually and for his own survival-- and then taken off to save himself. Since her infuriated mind could think of nothing else, she lunged at him, sending his surprised self on his back in the mud.   
  
"Son of a bitch!" she screamed as she swung at him uselessly. "Selfish BASTARD! I'm going to KILL you!"  
  
In one smooth motion Vejita tossed her off of him, seized her by the shoulders, and slid her on her back beneath him. Bulma blinked, shocked, up at him, her hair splayed out behind her in the mud. Rainwater seeped into her wide blue eyes, but she hardly noticed. Vejita had cleverly placed his hands on her wrists, preventing her from moving.  
  
"So what are you going to do now?" she demanded quietly. "Kill me? Go ahead."  
  
"You would die for them?" Vejita asked her, clearly surprised at this foreign concept.   
  
Bulma's eyes moved in the direction of the canyon, where she knew that Goku and Marron where waiting for them to come back and save them. That did not look like it was going to happen now.  
  
"Yes," she admitted, blinking to clear her eyes of the pouring rain. "Yes Vejita, I would die for them."  
  
Vejita looked as if he couldn't fathom the foreign idea of someone giving their life for another person. His strange eyes, in their element here in the darkness, gleamed eerily. He could not, for the life of him, decide what to do. Here was the first human being who had reached out to him in Kami knew how many years, the woman he had, just an hour ago, slept with and then left. But on the other hand, there were plenty of attactive women on Earth to be had. Then it came to him. He could not just show up on Earth without the others. He would be arrested in an instant. But with Bulma Briefs, however... Vejita's clever mind raced at the possibilities. It appeared that he would not have to battle his feelings after all. He smirked and released her arms, though he did not get off from on top of her.  
  
"Interesting," he said vaguely. "But I have a better idea."  
Goku and Marron huddled together in the darkness. Bulma had left just enough of the glowing insects to cast the cave in a dim blue light, but it could only hold off the hungry aliens for so long. They were beginning to claw and shriek at the edges of the cave. The two passengers could occasionally make out their brown shapes darting past the entrance, as if sizing up the risk involved in devouring them where they sat.  
  
"Do you think that they're going to come back?" Marron asked Goku softly.  
  
Goku thought back to all of the incidents where Yamcha had spoken of how untrustworthy Vejita was, and to Vejita's serial killer identity. As far as reputation went, they had no chance with Vejita. But he had seen Bulma follow him into the darkness before Yamcha's death, and could very well guess what they had been doing under the cover of shadows. As far as he knew, there could have been more encounters between the two throughout the trip, but who knew? If anyone had a chance at bringing Vejita around, it was Bulma.   
  
"I don't know," he admitted. Chichi and Gohan's faces flashed before his eyes, reminding him of all the lost hope and grief he was carrying around inside. "I don't even know if it matters anymore."  
  
Marron had dealt with her own loss. Krillen might have been a mere boyfriend, but that did not do anything to lessen the blow on her heart. "I think that I want to live. Its going to be hard without Krillen, though."  
  
"I know how you feel." Goku fell into a brooding silence, and Marron followed his example.  
  
They were so involved in thinking of their deceased loved ones that they barely even heard the crowd of hungry creatures outside begin to inch closer, fangs bared.  
"Come with me," Vejita offered, coming to a stand and moving to the ramp.   
  
Bulma knelt, running a hand over her sopping mane of hair, and stared at him incredulously. "I-- I can't... I couldn't just leave them here like that."  
  
"Yes, you can," Vejita assured her, offering a hand. "Let me make it easy for you."  
  
Bulma's mind began to race uncontrollaby, and she began to cry softly, touching her head to her knees in despair. She could not deny that she wanted to take Vejita's offer and save herself, but if she left Goku and Marron on this awful planet to be devoured, she would never be able to live with herself. Yet here she was, stuck in the middle of a decision she should have been able to make easily. She shook her head once again, though she wasn't even sure if that was her answer.  
  
Vejita sighed and stepped off the ramp to approach her. "Don't cry, its an easy decision. Come with me-- those two fools never had a chance anyway. They're probably dead right now."  
  
Bulma lifted her head a little and glanced over at her wine bottle filled with the glowing blue worms. They reminded her of the hopeful, innocent looks on Goku and Marron's faces when she had left them behind, unsure if she would ever return. They had both suffered so much already. How could she ever look her family in the eyes again, knowing that she had left them here to die a brutal and painful death?  
  
"I can't do that to them," she said quietly. Her tears mixed with the raindrops that were falling steadily, but she had no doubt that Vejita knew that she was crying. She didn't care anymore. "You were going to do that to ME."  
  
"Never crossed my mind," Vejita lied, crossing his arms as he stood over her. "Get up-- you're getting wet."  
  
"I don't care!" Bulma exclaimed, turning away from him. She was shocked to see at least a hundred of those horrible creatures creeping closer and closer to light. They were either incredibly stupid or too hungry and desperate to care about the light. She had no desire to stick around and find out. After seeing the evil creatures, her mind began to change. There was no way that she and Vejita could make it all the way back to the canyon, and what if they returned to find that Goku and Marron had already been killed? She finally lifted her clear blue eyes to Vejita's iridescent ones and hated herself for what she was about to do. She extended a graceful, muddy arm and allowed Vejita to hoist her to her feet.  
  
His smirk banished all thoughts of Goku and Marron out of her head. She once again wondered what the hell she was doing, handing herself over to a murderer.   
  
Vejita flashed her the closest thing to a smile she had ever seen cross his face. It was unsettling. "I knew you would come around."  
Marron screamed hysterically as one of the creatures got close enough to stick its ugly head into the cave, testing the intensity of the light. Goku moved to the back of the cave, spreading his arms to protect Marron. The creature made a noise and began coming into the cave, closely followed by at least a dozen of its friends. Their skin turned a smart shade of pink when they came into contact with the dim blue light, but they didn't seem fazed in the least.  
  
"They're not coming back," Marron cried, clinging to Goku like a lifeline. "Oh my Kami, we're going to DIE in here! I'm too young to die!"  
  
Goku's mind was racing with memories. His first date with Chichi, Chichi in a traditional white wedding dress, Chichi on their wedding night, showing him what love really was. Chichi giving birth to Gohan, their first and only son. The travel brochure that had advertised this supposed 'safe and relaxing' trip, Gohan's mutilated body, leaning up against the door of the Coring Room, Chichi being carried away and devoured alive by the flying aliens that had plagued them earlier. He wondered, once again, if he had anything left to live for.   
  
He opened his eyes to see the creatures not even six feet away, snapping their teeth at each other in competition. Goku briefly wondered if there was enough of them to go around. He didn't have long to think about it.  
  
Marron let loose a wail of pure panic when the bravest alien lunged at Goku and carried him to the corner of the cave, ripping and tearing away at his body. A few of the others moved to battle it out with that one, but the others kept their beady little eyes on Marron. She shrunk as far she could into the wall of the cave, then squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out what was happening to them.  
  
Her screams were cut short when the creatures began to devour her, their hides sizzling from the dim lights.   
Bulma sat numbly in the passenger's seat of the ship, waiting for Vejita to make his final flight adjustments on the ship. She was wrapped up in a fire blanket, shivering a little bit, but not just because of the chilly rain. She could hardly believe that she was here, instead of going back to save Goku and Marron as she had promised. She had always been a woman of her word, so why stop now? She knew the answer to that-- she had changed, almost as soon as they had crashed. VEJITA had changed her, as much as she would have hated to admit it. Consorting with a serial killer would do that to you, she supposed.  
  
"Stop looking so damned sorry for yourself," Vejita snapped to her as he moved towards the front of the ship. "I might be tempted to throw you back out with those alien bastards."  
  
"You have me ready to piss my pants," Bulma mumbled grumpily. "I wish that you would stop pretending that you don't need me."  
  
Vejita lifted an eyebrow, but did not look like he was protesting her comment. "What makes you think that I need a bitch like you?"  
  
The insult rolled right off of Bulma's back, because she knew better. "You couldn't just return to Earth without someone with a credible reputation to back up your story. Speaking of that... how the hell are you going to explain this?"  
  
Vejita smirked. "I'm not going to. You are."  
  
"I am?"   
  
"You're going to relate to the good people of Earth my heroic tale," Vejita informed her with a smirk. "You see, when we crashed, it was very apparent that Yamcha was not the All-American astronaut that everyone thinks he is. He threated us several times and nearly left us behind. Thanks to me, at least one of you could return with your life."  
  
"Well, that's brilliant," Bulma commented dryly. "You're a convicted serial killer, Vejita, nobody's going to sit there and let you feed them that shit. The second we land on Earth, you're going to be wearing a shiny new pair of handcuffs."  
  
"You have no confidence in me," Vejita said, feigning to be hurt. "Part of the clinical definition of a psychopath describes the person's unexpectedly charming side, the side he uses to lure in his prey. Serial killers can get away with their multiple crimes because they don't chase people down like a lunatic, they draw their victims to them. With that charm also comes the gift of being articulate."  
  
Bulma raised an eyebrow. "So you're admitting that you're psychotic?"  
  
"No, just suggesting it." Vejita relaxed a little as the ship blasted through the planet's firey atmosphere with little damage. Bulma noted that he could handle the vehicle as well, perhaps even better, than she could have. "Do you think that I am?"  
  
Bulma thought on that. There had been times, like when he tried to kiss her on the ship, their encounter in the darkness of the canyon, and of course, their intercourse in the cave, when she had almost been convinced that this man had a little bit of human somewhere inside of him. During those moments, the realization that he was a murderer had been easily pushed into the back of the mind. But on the flip side, there were also those moments when he had lashed out at them, killed Yamcha, doubted she and her abilites, and tried to leave them behind to be devoured when she was reminded that he was what he was, and it wasn't likely that he would ever change. He definitely fit his own definition of a psychopath. And that was all without taking into account the innocent people that he had killed out of cold blood, either.   
  
"I don't know yet," Bulma said quietly, gazing out the windows to the peace and silence of space. "Ask me that question in a few weeks."  
  
Vejita studied her for a moment, then turned back to his driving. His smirk had been replaced by a frown. "Does this mean that you're willing to assist me?"  
  
Bulma sighed. "Yes, may Kami forgive me."  
  
They were silent for a while, thinking their own private thoughts and watching the stars go by in the windows. It was so strange to think of all the things that they had survived together. Bulma couldn't help but wonder if Vejita had planned this all along. Vejita wondered the same thing.  
  
"How long until we reach Earth?"  
  
Vejita shrugged. "Four or five hours. Are you ready?"  
  
Bulma wrapped her blanket tighter around herself and turned to Vejita, her blue eyes dark. "Yes."  
  
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(A/N): That's all, folks! I would have had this chapter posted yesterday, but I was, uh... grounded. *Blushes* Yes, Rhapsody let her anger get the better of her. Wouldn't be the first time. But anyway, I want to thank everybody for their fabulous support and many reviews throughout the fic. I wasn't at all sure that I could pull this off, and I owe it to you guys. If you hadn't been so positive and open-minded from the start, then I would have never been able to do it. Love ya, everyone!   
  
I've got another fic in the works, though I'm not sure exactly when it will be posted. Maybe in a week or two. Anyway, this is gonna be a big one, you guys. I've been writing down chapters and plans for the whole fic down in my little notebook for months now, and I'm full of ideas. Its going to be an AU B/V, but without the whole 'Bulma is a slave on Vejitasei' plot. I don't want to say too much right now, because I'm always altering my plans, but if you're genuinely interested you can always, I dunno, e-mail me or something. The first part is going to be mostly backround and memories and such, but then the good stuff starts happening in the second part. I might end up dividing it into two fics, just because I want to stress that they are different parts of people's lives, but I'm not sure. If I do, do not be frightened that the wait between stories will be a long time, because I'm going to cruise right into the second half pretty quickly.   
  
Since I don't want to blabber on and on, I'll shut up now. Once again, thanks a bunch for all of your support, and please remember to leave one last review! Ja ne! ^_^  
  
Rhapsody~*  
HawaiianBabay@aol.com  
AOL Instant Messanger: Hawaiian Babay  
  
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